Punch!
by MangoCandy64
Summary: “I learned early on that we were all born to parish from this world, but thanks to him I no longer fear to die…thanks to him I now only fear that death will take me away from him...” Can a dying girl teach one stubborn street fighter how to live? Inu/Kag
1. Half Past Twelve

**Punch!  
****By: ****MangoCandy64**

**--**

**  
Disclaimer: **I don't own Inuyasha…yet! XD  
**Warning: **Explicit language :D

**Chapter 1: Half past Twelve**

"Get the fuck out of my way lady!" yelled a fuming amber-eyed boy.

The nurse persisted in blocking the exit of the hospital room while struggling to reason with the injured patient that stood before her.

"Please Mr. Taisho, you are in no condition to be leaving the hospital grounds this soon. Doctor Kwan says your wounds need a full 2 weeks to re…"

"Shutup, will ya!? I just need some fresh air." The boy retorted.

Before the poor nurse knew what hit her, the young boy swiftly pushed her aside and unlocked the latch of the door. He then made his way out of the room and limped through the hospital's main hallway. The pungent smell of sanitizer and dry blood hit his senses immediately as he continued to walk towards his destination; the exit. He grinned in success when he saw the hospital's parking lot just beyond the automatic doors that stood before him, but before he took a step on the black mat sensor that would release him to his freedom, he unhooked his fur-hooded sweater from the hospital's guest coat rack.

As he stepped outside, the evening's luminous moonlight hit him from every direction forcing him to bring his cast bound arm to shield his sensitive eyes.

He took in a deep breath of the summer night breeze and let out a deep sigh that sounded more like a growl.

"Stupid nurse, stupid hospital…keh, what a way to end a summer." He scolded himself.

He continued to limp through the nearly empty parking lot and made his way for the sick children's park located just ahead. When he reached his destination, he stopped in front of the park's fountain and took a peak at his reflection in the still water.

Boy, did they mess him up good this time. As he stared aimlessly at his reflection he saw a bruised and battered sliver-haired boy staring back at him. The left side of his lip swelled and dry blood still remained near his temple. His arm in the tight cast still stung when he tried to rotate it and his left eye felt heavy due to the cut right above it.

It was the sound of a distant moving car that snapped him out of his gaze. He then spat phlegm that was rising in his throat in the fountain which made his reflection ripple with the waves of the fountain water. He then turned around to sit on the hard cold ground. He leaned his sore back against the fountain's edge and began to rummage through the pockets of his sweater with his good arm. He then fished out a half empty pack of smokes and his variety store lighter. He stuck the 'all white' in his mouth and carefully lit it in one shot. He took in a deep long drag. The inhalation of the warm smoke filled his lungs, soothing all the pain he felt in his body for a moment. He then let the smoke seep out of his mouth with a sigh as the smoke drifted into the peaceful night air.

His gaze then focused on the night sky and he began to reminisce on the day's events. He got fucked up again and damn did he feel weaker than an infant. Everyday, day in and day out, someone was always there looking to start trouble with him, but it was his destiny and he knew that. His father was an infamous mob leader and one can only be certain that with an occupation such as the one his father had must come with its bag full of enemies.

So it was only natural that when he passed away seven years ago, he being his only son would be the heir to all of his father's enemies. He hated him for that. No, not the fact that he now inherited his enemies or that he left him to fend for himself but the fact that he died, displaying to the world how weak he was; no, how weak of a father to him he was. He thought of him as a foolish man and the very thought of him made the boy's blood boil immensely. As for all the new found enemies he inherited, it didn't bother him one bit. In fact, he loved the adrenalin rush that came with the 'chase' and fighting off his foes. Before he knew it, he grew hungry for a fight and accepted any challenge that presented its face before him with sheer delight. He grew eager to display his strength to the world through ruthless brawls and meaningless battles.

In just the seventeen short years of his life all these events; the gorgy battles, the death of his father, fending for himself, would all contribute to the darkness that had slowly developed in his soul like a cancerous tumor. Whether he was conscious of it or not, the young boy lived for himself and crushing his foes was the only thing that reminded him of his existence. So one could only imagine how emotionally painful it was for the amber-eyed boy to sit on the cold damp ground with all those injuries. Each scratch, each bruise only told him of how weak he still was and how much more power he still needed; he still craved for. Like his father used to say in the heat of battle, "Losing is not an option" but unlike his father, the boy's purpose was to hold true to that saying.

Inuyasha continued to smoke every last bit of his cigarette. His sliver locks danced in the brisk night's solemn breeze. As he enjoyed the last bit of his cigarette's pleasurable smoke, he threw it on the ground and crushed it with his worn out sneaker as he slowly made his way up to his feet.

He groaned in pain as he began to walk back to the hospital's front entrance. He only made it a few feet away from the fountain when he noticed that a shadow, other than his own, lingered on the rocky pavement of the park. He looked around the rickety old playground anxious that he might be able to redeem himself for his loss in battle and kick the ass of the next idiot who dare cross him now. His attention then focused on the park's swing set where a figure sat in one of the swings in the shadows of the night. With one of his eyes still under the strain of a cut, he took a few steps toward the swing set to make out the mysterious figure.

As the rays of the moon shown through a passing cloud, Inuyasha saw that it was a young blue eyed girl sitting in the swing and starring right back at him. She was just sitting there, with her hands holding the rusty chains of the swing; just staring. She had long ebony silk hair, a fair complexion, and looked no older than himself. But what he noticed before any of that were her eyes. Her deep blue orbs were glossy with what seemed like tears but the expression on her face was apathetic. Even though it looked like their eyes had met, the girl's eyes seemed to look passed his amber orbs.

A few minutes of awkward silence past between the two before the girl broke their intense staring contest and positioned her head to look down at her own two feet. Inuyasha instinctively made a confused but pissed off face and couldn't help but feel annoyed by the odd girl's presence. Just when he thought he would tell off the girl and put her in her place, he heard a gentle voice seep through her lips.

"You should quit."

"Excuse me?" Inuyasha spat back with an irritated voice.

"Smoking. You should quit. It's bad for your lungs." The girl said softly as she still stared down at her feet.

Inuyasha almost threw up a laugh at how much nerve the little bitch had to dare tell him what to do. "Well, I think you should mind your own fuckin' business little girl."

"Try saying that again." She said, now with her eyes piercing back at his.

This time Inuyasha said nothing in return due to the fact that he was pondering on how stupid this wench could possibly be.

She continued.

"If you have a request you wish from someone, try asking them more kindly otherwise you might just end up with nothing."

"Listen, bitch…"

"Look I don't want to waste my time talking to some thug wannabe whose vocabulary only consists of one syllable words. I just thought you should quit, that's all."

With that, the girl hopped off the swing and began to make her way to the hospital entrance. Inuyasha was not only fuming with anger but was absolutely stunned. He was often encouraged by the other party to beat the shit out of them but never was the other party a girl before. The girl only took two steps before she was fiercely grabbed by the arm and whipped around to be standing face to face with the boy she had unknowingly insulted. They were only inches away from each others faces that the young girl could feel the heat given off by the intensity the boy held in his amber eyes. The girl's eyes seemed glossier from when he first laid eyes on them but yet her blue orbs held no sign of fear. Inuyasha continued to look deep into her eyes with massive fury as he made a deep sound with his mouth that had a resemblance to that of a deep growl.

"I don't know what your deal is but I'd watch that pretty little mouth of yours. It might get you into trouble."

"Oh wait, I know this. This is where I say, I think you should mind your own fuckin' business little girl, right?"

Inuyasha tighten his grip on the girl's arm out of rage. The girl winced a bit in pain.

"Keh, so you're a smart ass huh."

"Do you always greet people with such a charismatic personality?" the girl replied sarcastically with a slight grin.

"You just don't know when to shutup do you?"

"That's not it. I just choose not too. Well, it was nice chatting with you but if you don't mind I think I'll be heading back inside. It's half past twelve."

But before Inuyasha could give any sort of rude remark to her comment, the girl swiftly sacked him with her right knee and he instantly fell to the ground. Through his pain filled yelp and several curses to follow, the girl casually made her way to the west wing entrance of the hospital.

"Name's Kagome." She yelled back to his body that lay nearly lifeless on the stone pavement of the park grounds.

Still crumbled in a pile on the tar pavement, Inuyasha shifted his head to stare at the night's sky once more. He watched as a plane cut through the thick clouds that began to cover the moon's ominous glow. When he finally produced enough energy to get up on his own two feet, he noticed that the girl appeared to be no where in sight. He then picked up his sweater that had been sitting near the swing set. His tired amber orbs then stared apathetically at the swing where the girl who had hurt his man hood had just sat on. He took a seat on it and grabbed another smoke from his sweater pocket.

As he struggled to light the smoke with his injured arm he noticed something shiny imbedded in the sand bellow his swing. When he finally got his cigarette lit, he bent forward to pick up what look like a shard of glass. To his surprise he picked up a necklace with a pendent that looked like a shard of a rose coloured jewel. His curious amber eyes carefully examined the necklace thoroughly as he puffed smoke into the midnight air. He then stuffed the necklace into his pocket along with his smokes and lighter.

He then lightly chuckled as he reminisced on the bitch that thought had gotten the best of him. His eyes gleamed with devilish excitement as he put out what was left of his cigarette with his foot. After a few minutes, Inuyasha hopped off the swing and made his way to the hospital's entrance. As he dragged his sore feet against the payment he silently whispered to himself,

"Well then Kagome, let the games begin."

--

**A/N: Ya I know its short but that's the first chapter. If you guys haven't caught on I'm kinda just making this up as I go so if you need things to be clarified plz call my ppl (meaning mail me if you got question :D)I plan to keep each chapter short & sweet cuz I like getting to the point. Tell me what you think & REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW folks. This is my first so be nice :p**

**Later Dayz.**


	2. Sex, Drugs, Violence, High School!

**Punch!  
****By: ****MangoCandy64**

**--**

**  
Disclaimer: **I don't own Inuyasha, Honda Civic, or Hello Kitty…yet! XD  
**Warning: **Explicit language

**A/N: The title below is the actual title of the chapter and not Sex, Drugs, & Violence. ...High School. Apparently this site discriminates against long chapter titles. :(**

**Chapter 2: Sex, Drugs, & Violence. Welcome to High School Kids! **

"_Good morning Tokyo! It's Ken Yoshida here on S.N.T fm radio. Let's check what the weather has in store for us this week shall we? Time for your S.N.T's weather forecast update. Looks like we will be kick starting the week with lots of sunshine this morning, with temperatures sitting at a comfortable 35 degrees Celsius with the barometer rising. Couldn't be a better day for all those kids heading back to school today…"_

_Click_

The young brunette heavily groaned into her pillow as she hit the snooze button with her heavy arm. Dancing rays of light peaked through her half closed blinds and entered the girl's sleeping quarters. The girl made a deep sigh and used all the energy she had to shift her head towards her digital clock. Neon green light flashed the numbers 6:30am back at her hazelnut eyes. The girl then shifted her head back to normal position and hid her head under her cotton pillow to hide from the brilliant light that threaten to disturber her somber slumber. Slowly, the girl's state of mind began to drift back into a world of tranquility; a surreal dream land where reality was no such thing. Suddenly, the girl awoke with a loud scream penetrating her pillow covered ears. Instinctively, the girl screamed too shooting up from her laid position.

"Sango wake up! This is no time to sleep in. Happy first day of school sis!" The young boy said through a fit of laughter.

"GET OFF MY BED KOHAKU!!" Sango yelled enraged.

"Smile!" the boy said in response and pushed a button on his new digital camera.

"What the F…?"

But before she realized what on earth was going on, a great big flash shot at her directly. Then the camera was shoved in her face revealing a messy haired, lip drooling, Hello Kitty pajama wearing monstrosity who was supposedly herself.

"What do ya think? Cool souvenir, huh?" Kohaku said followed with another burst of laughter.

"I'm gunna smash your stupid little head in if you don't delete that picture this instant!" Sango retorted.

"Nope! Gotta catch me first bubble butt!"

And with that, the chase around Sango's jungle-like bedroom began.

--

"In!" Sango demanded.

Kohaku reluctantly got into the battered up Honda Civic which was supposedly going to get them to school that morning. Sango slammed her brother's door shut and made her way to the other side of the car. She took another bite of her slightly brunt bagel and fumbled to find the right key on her keychain. When she finally found the right one, she unlocked her side of the car and hoped into the driver's seat. Several minutes latter, after checking all the car mirrors and bickering with her brother to fasten his seatbelt, she entered the key into the ignition and they were off.

The forecast was right on about the weather. The sun sat dead center in the crisp blue sky and the breeze that flew in through the crack of the slightly open car windows was warm and smelt of summer memories. It was a gorgeous day; to bad they would have to be spending it in school, Sango thought to herself. Sango took her eyes off the road for a second to catch a glimpse of her brother in the passenger seat. His gaze was focused straight in front of him through the car's windshield. His smoky chestnut hair swayed softly in the morning breeze and his face held a cute and content grin. As much as the little turd bothered her so, she just couldn't help but feel happy to see him so lively and excited. Her eyes returned back to the road as a chuckle slip through her soft lips. This, of course, captured the attention of the boy who sat beside her.

"What?" Kohaku asked as he turned to face his older sister with a confused expression.

"Can't a person even laugh without having to explain herself?" she said with her eyes still on the road.

"Whatever." Kohaku replied and returned his focus on the windshield.

Sango smiled having won the battle although she knew her brother didn't think of it as one. She found it somewhat hysterical that her little baby brother, the one who refused to wear anything but a diaper until he was five and thought clothing were fancy dish cloths, sat before her wearing a nice, primped high school uniform. It was his first day of grade nine so she understood why he was so excited. It's a whole other level than elementary and was an introduction to a world you may have never known existed. High school was a realm of hardcore parties, essays and exams, underage drinking, girls, sex, and last but not least, mind-numbing violence. So it would come to no surprise if her six foot tall, teenage, testosterone filled little brother said he had been looking forward to this day ever since he was born.

Sango made a final left turn and made her way up a neighborhood. Soon after, she entered the school's underground parking lot and took a few minutes to park her car properly. When she finally felt that the car was perfectly aligned between the two yellow lines of the parking space, she took the key out of the ignition. She pulled a small lever near the bottom of the car to open the car's trunk. She then stepped out of the car and grabbed both her and her brother's backpacks from the disarray of junk in the car's trunk. She then made it to the other side of the car and opened the passenger seat door.

"Out!" she demanded to her brother.

The hazel eyed boy sat frozen in his seat for a few minutes before he grabbed his bag from his sister's hand and stepped out of the car. Sango made a funny expression due to her brother's sudden odd behavior. Sango then shut the passenger seat door and set her car alarm on. Satisfied with the "beep, beep" of the car locking all its doors, she ushered her brother to walk with her out of the garage. As they entered the warm breeze of outside, they made their way to the front of the school campus. Sango once again took a peak at her brother who was staring down at the sidewalk. Sensing what the problem was, she tired to help find a solution.

"Nervous?" Sango asked.

"Who, me? The only thing I'm nervous about is you ruining my reputation."

"It's your first day; you don't have a reputation stupid!"

"W-Well, I don't want you to ruin everyone's first impression of me and…"

Sango tugged on her brother's uniform sleeve, indicating for him to stop moving.

"Look. You've been through a lot of shit in these past couple of years. This is nothing compared to what we've been through squirt. Relax. And I'll try not to ruin everyone's first impression on you…much. Scout's Honor!" Sango said with a reassuring smile and with her right hand placed over her heart.

"But you're not a scout." Kohaku said with a playful grin.

"You're catching on lil bro." Sango said with a giggle as she continued to walk towards the school's entrance.

Kohaku stood on the sidewalk watching as his sister walked ahead to their destination. He couldn't help but smile as he watched her walk towards the school's entrance.

"Thanks" he said to no one in particular and yelled at his sister to wait up as he ran towards the entrance.

--

Blue orbs shown in delight as they traced up and down at the soft material. The girl gently stroked the blazer's collar, smoothing out any wrinkles that lurked in its fabric. She was silent for what seemed like hours as she stared in awe at her brand new school uniform. The plaid red kilt, white French cut blouse, the dark rich blazer, matching tie and white knee socks; it was almost too much for the fragile girl to take in. As the car she sat in drove over a small pothole, the young girl snapped out of her stupor and her attention returned to her nagging grandmother who she forgot was sitting beside her. For the past ten minutes her grandmother had gone on and on about how she, her _only _granddaughter, shouldn't have to attend a public school especially in her case.

"Kagome dear, I don't see why you have to go through with this. I've done everything in my power to provide you with the best education money can buy so why throw it all away for some mediocre education facility they call high school?." The old woman pleaded to her young granddaughter.

Kagome only gave her grandmother a kindhearted smile before she left out a tiny sigh and attempted to explain her reasoning to her grandmother once more.

"Obasan, did you ever go to high school?" she asked with curiosity.

"Don't be silly child. Of course I did! You know how important education is to me." the elderly woman replied a bit insulted.

"What was it like?" Kagome asked as she stared out of the car window.

The old woman was prepared to answer her question in an hour long seminar about her childhood when her granddaughter's words finally seemed to make sense to her. Kagome was different and as much as she tried to insure her she wasn't, the more her granddaughter knew she was. To have lived in a hospital for all her life and to be home schooled since she was seven, was no life any kid would be too happy about. But Kagome was different. Of course she had cried and was scared of what was to come but she never complained. She lived for the moment and always woke up with a sense of accomplishment knowing she was at least here for one more day. Instead of running away from the fact that she was ill, she accepted it and moved forward. _What was it like?_ It was with those four words that she understood what her granddaughter had been trying to ask her for, for all these years.

It was the old woman's turn to sigh as she gave no response to her granddaughter's question.

"Lady Kaede, we have reached Joshibi Academy's main campus." The driver stated from his seat.

"Very well." She responded and turned to see a very ecstatic granddaughter who sat beside her.

"Thank you Obasan. I Love you." The girl squealed as she kissed her grandmother on her cheek and hopped outside of the car.

The old woman watched as her granddaughter skipped up the stairs to the school's main entrance and disappeared through the maroon coloured doors. Kaede could only shake her head with a grin as she lost sight of Kagome through the tinted car windows.

"I'm getting too old for this." She said under her breath with a smirk.

The car began to back up from the school's entrance and made its way out of the school grounds. _What was it like?_ It was with those four words that she understood what her granddaughter had been trying to ask her for, for all these years.

_Obasan, don't let me hide anymore. _

--

"Man, I don't remember the entrance being that far away from the garage." a panting Sango said to no one in particular.

"It's only a block away. Maybe you should lay off the McDonalds." Kohaku retorted with his arms crossed and his head slightly shaking in disappointment of his sister's rotten health.

Sango only stared daggers at him in response to his comment.

"SANGO!!" a voice screamed out of no where.

Sango and her brother immediately looked around to match the scream with a body when a flash of red appear over top of the two. Before any of them could run away, a red haired girl landed on Sango's shoulders and squeezed her with all her might. Kohaku could only stared with utter fear and confusion as his sister piggy backed what look like an over sized child.

"SANGO!! I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU SINCE LIKE FOREVER! HOW WAS YOUR SUMMER!! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED…GAWD I'VE MISSED YOU…" the emerald eyed girl rambled on still sitting on her good friend's shoulders and squeezing her like no tomorrow.

"Ayame, you're hurting me." Sango struggled to say as she tried to regain her balance.

"Oh." Ayame said in realization and hoped off her friend's back. Her attention then turned towards the petrified boy who was standing next to them.

"No fair Sango. You always get the cute boyfriends." Ayame whined as she crossed her arms in disappointment.

"BOYFRIEND??" Kohaku shouted.

"CUTE??" Sango yelled.

Sango took a few minutes to compose herself before she spoke again.

"Ayame, this is my younger brother Kohaku."

"Is that really you Kohaku? Boy, have you grown. You still afraid of me?" Ayame said with a giggle.

"Pssh No…" Kohaku said terrified as his cheeks turned scarlet.

"So what was the big news that you had to assassinate my back for?" Sango asked as she took a seat on the school's front steps.

"Well I heard from a friend of a friend of a friend of mine…"

"And you wonder why she scares the shit outta me?" Kohaku whispered to his sister.

"…that the mob leader dude that died a few years back has a hot son who's transferring to our school this year! Awesome huh?" Ayame squealed.

"Umm no." Kohaku said as his sister jabbed her elbow into his leg.

Sango spoke as she leaned her back against the steps she sat on.

"But hasn't that guy been like expelled from every school in the district or something. Don't waste your time with him Ayame. He's just another delusional thug who thinks he can fight like the best of them. What was his name again…Inu…"

"INUYASHA!!" Ayame said mesmerized as a sliver haired boy stepped out of a black car.

The boy's amber eyes squinted a bit due to the sun's brilliant rays. He stared at the school that stood before him in utter disgust as he began to make his way to the front steps. He seemed to be wearing the school's uniform but it was hard to tell from the way he wore it. His French cut shirt was untucked from his pants and was buttoned up a little bit more than half way. His tie hung loose around his neck and he held his black blazer in his arm than on himself. His hands were in his pockets as he strutted closer to the entrance way. If it weren't for the day's warm breeze blowing his bangs over top of his face, everyone would freeze from the demonic scowl he wore on his face.

Ayame began to panic as the boy she had just gossiped about was walking in her direction.

"HE"S COMING THIS WAY!! WHAT DO I DO?!" she screamed.

"You could stop screaming?" Sango said irritated.

"Okay, I've got a plan. When he comes this way, I'll stand here while you two chat amongst yourselves. Then I'll hit him with my super deluxe ultra kawaii face and ask him if he knows the time. Then he'll fall in love with me and we can ride off into the sun…hey, where'd he go?"

"He passed us 'bout two minutes ago and went inside." Kohaku said picking his ear with his pinky.

--

Kagome buttoned the last button on her cotton white blouse and slipped into her black blazer. She looked once more in the washroom mirror making sure everything was in check. She then tied her tie with incredible speed and ran her hand once in her ebony hair. She was ready. Never before had she worn a uniform before. The school uniform was designed to be worn by members of the school community representing the pride and respect they must show for the academy. Kagome thought otherwise. The uniform to her was a sign that she didn't have to hide anymore and could live a life without IV's or nurses. She wanted to take on the world and what better way to start than in high school. She stuffed her other clothes in her backpack and made her way out of the school washroom. She then reached in her blazer's pocket for a small folded up piece of paper. She unfolded the paper to reveal a school schedule. She scanned over the paper reading every detail to herself.

"Hmm…new students must report to the main office. This place is huge! How on earth am I gunna find the office..." she said softly to herself as she looked at her wrist watch.

"…IN FIVE MINUTES!" she said in shock. Great, her first day here and she was already going to be late.

'So much for a smooth start.' she thought to herself.

Kagome ran around the magnificent school hallway passing the large cafeteria, even larger gymnasium, and the largest auditorium she had ever seen. She panicked when the warning bell rang and she had no idea where in the school she was. Her attention was then drawn to two girls and a young boy who just entered the school. Desperate, she ran up to the trio and asked for directions.

"Excuse me, do any of you know where I can find the main office?" she asked exhausted.

Sango only smiled as she thought it was so cute that the newbie was trying so hard to be on time.

"Yup. As a matter of fact, my brother here has to head over there too. It's just around the corner past the guidance office. Why don't you escort her Kohaku?"

Kohaku shivered at how polite his sister was behaving but quickly shook it off and turn his attention to Kagome.

"Sure. Nice to meet you…" Kohaku stalled as he realized the girl hadn't introduced herself.

"Kagome. Thanks so much." She smiled in relief.

"NO PROBLEM! AWW YOU'RE SO CUTE!! YOUR HAIR IS SO SHINY…WHAT SHAMPOO DO YOU USE. OH, MY NAME'S AYAME!!" Ayame blurted suddenly.

All three just stared with nervous smiles.

"Umm yeah, you guys better get going. Our principal is kinda strict. Name's Sango. Welcome to hell." Sango said holding her hand out towards Kagome.

Kagome shook her hand along with a confused expression.

"But I thought this was Joshibi Academy?" Kagome replied innocently, unaware of Sango's attempt to be funny.

"You'll soon learn there's no difference." Sango said with a grin and walked off with Ayame in the other direction.

"Well, we better get going." Kohaku said shyly to the girl next to him.

"Right!" Kagome said with a smile.

The two walked in silence for most of the way as they passed the guidence office. Kagome finally broke the silence between them.

"Is this your forth year too?" Kagome asked the shy boy beside her.

Kohaku was a little shocked realizing the girl was in grade twelve. 'Better luck next time.' he thought.

"Umm actually its my first but everyone says I look older than I am." Kohaku said with a shy chuckle and his fingers scratching the back of his head.

Kagome responed with a smile.

"No, I think it's your height. You gotta be at least 5'9."

"Try 6 feet." he said with pride.

The two continued there little conversation untill they reached the end of the hallway.

"According to your sister, the office should be just around this corner." Kagome stated.

As she began to turn the corner excited that her high school life was about to begin, she sudenly walked into a cloud of deep smoke that had been puffed in her face. Kagome coughed as the smell of tabbaco entered her lungs making her feel woozy inside. As she rubbed her watery blue orbs, a familiar silver haired boy stood before her. He leaned against the wall next to the main office door and his deep amber eyes stared back at her as his scowl turned into a devilsh grin. As she stood there trying to recollect her thoughts while attempting to figure out why this boy seemed oh so familiar, the boy spoke helping her to remember.

"Inuyasha. Nice to meet you."

--

**A/N:** **MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE! Sorry it took so long to update but with x-mas parties to attend to and this wicked cold that I've had for about five days now, it was hard to find time to finish this chapter. I'm content with the chapter but I feel like I slacked off a bit. Anyway, I'm gunna take the time to clarify some things in this chapter. **

**Number 1: The S.N.T in S.N.T fm Radio stands for Shikon no Tama for anyone who was curious. As for the school's name,**** Joshibi Academy, it's a random high school in Japan.**

**Number 2: You will learn about Kagome's illness later on in the story so please be patient. **

**Number 3: If you refer to chapter 1, Kagome tells Inuyasha her name. So the last comment Inuyasha makes, "****Inuyasha. Nice to meet you.", is to response to Kagome's comment in Chapter one. **

**By the way, there school uniforms are those like in the manga Happy Hustle High. I always wanted a uniform with a blazer :D but unfortunately I don't :( so I am forced to live out my dream in this fanfic :) Links for the uniform are located on my profile.**

**Umm yeah. This chapter was all about introducing characters and one of the setting's of this fic; high school! Thank you to ****White-Snow-Winged-Angel**** for the review. APPRICATE IT! R&R ppl. Now if you don't mind I'm gunna eat some chicken noodle soup.**

**Later Dayz.**


	3. Charlotte's Web

**Punch!  
****By: ****MangoCandy64**

**--**

**  
Disclaimer: **I don't own Inuyasha or Vicky's chips …yet! (I gotta come up with a better disclaimer :S)  
**Warning: **Explicit language

**Chapter 3: Charlotte's Web**

It reminded him of one of those old western movies that his sister often dragged him by the ear to watch. First it was the eerie dead silence which he imagined being occupied by some intense music score; you know, to add to the atmosphere. Then there was the stare off; his flaming amber eyes that only seemed to stare off into her blistering blue ones. If it weren't for the sound of the photocopier next door reminding him where he was, he could have sworn that the crumpled up burger wrapper that lay on the floor before him was tumbleweed. Just when Kohaku thought the tension was enough to shatter the hallway, the silver haired cowboy took a few steps toward the blue eyed lass. He could almost hear the jingle of spurs as Inuyasha made his way up to Kagome. God, did he wish he had a bag of popcorn right about now.

Inuyasha came to a halt when he reached face to face to the oh so familiar girl. It was her alright. Those eyes; those horrid blue eyes still the same with its glossiness and fearless look. He smirked as he waited for some sort of apology; one that consisted of her begging on her hands and knees for forgiveness and mercy. He continued to watch her as she furrowed her eyebrows and stared into his eyes with acute concentration.

'Look at her.' He thought. 'Not so badass now, are you?' he said cynically in his head.

Seconds seemed like hours when Kagome finally broke the hallway's silence with a sigh. She then placed a finger on her lip as she prepared to speak to the boy before her. Inuyasha let out a small chuckle as he crossed his arms anxiously waiting to hear the sorry bitch cry. But he couldn't understand why this got him so excited. He knew it would end like this. It was destiny to see this girl again and to have her certify his win. He always won. Every fight every battle. If he didn't win the first time he'd always get even. He lived off the euphoria that was victory and just couldn't get enough it.

It was the scent of her finger that snapped him out of his egoistical thoughts. He gazed down to see her scrawny finger point at the tip of his nose. As he raised his hand to push her finger away, Kagome slightly titled her head to the side.

"Do I know you?" Kagome asked in the most polite way she could.

Inuyasha could swear his legs almost caved in sending him to the floor, as she stood there with her finger at his nose. Kohaku couldn't help but blurt out a tiny laugh at the amber eyed boy's expression.

"You think that's funny!?" Inuyasha violently spat to her when he finally regained his composure.

"I'm sorry; you just don't look familiar…"

"Oh, so I suppose you just kick every guy in the nuts!" Inuyasha boomed in the hallway.

Kagome snapped her fingers almost on impulse as she finally remembered who the boy was. Kohaku took a seat on the wooden bench placed near the office door. He rummaged through his back pack pulling out a bag of Vicky's chips. "Now this is getting interesting!" he said silently to himself.

"You're the chain smoker guy who checks into room 204 about every two weeks or so with all those fight wounds. You know, you really shouldn't give Nurse Catherine such a hard time. She always has to work the night shift."

"I don't care that Nurse Catherine works the…wait, how do you…" Inuyasha trailed off in realization of the girl's comment.

"Next!" a woman called standing through the small opening of the office door.

"Me!" Kohaku replied as he threw the remainder of his chips in the small waste basket near the bench. He then rummaged through his bag once more and pulled out his school registration form. He then zipped his bag shut and made his way inside the office.

"Nice meeting you Kagome." Kohaku said with a shy smile before he disappeared behind the maroon door.

"Later Kohaku." Kagome said with a wave.

--

_Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock_…

Kagome sat quietly on the wooden bench that had been occupied by her new found friend almost moments ago. She sat there with a content face as her glossy blue eyes followed her thin legs that swung back and forth underneath her seat. Despite the unexpected encounter she just had, she was still eager to register and finally taste a bit of high school life; teenage life.

Inuyasha stood quietly on the opposite wall of the bench. His face held the mean scowl from before as he put out what was left of his cigarette. He then shoved his hands in the pockets of his new black uniform pants and stared in the opposite direction of the girl. He couldn't believe that they were actually putting him in school again. If being expelled two times in the last year didn't drop them a hint he didn't know what would. If it weren't for the fact that child services wouldn't let him live on his own without receiving somewhat of a diploma, he wouldn't be near a school within a ten mile radius. On top of that, _she _was here. Never in his life did he meet a girl with such balls let alone creepy as fuck. It was something about her tall slender frame, pale skin, dark hair and those stupid blue eyes that gave him the shakes. She was like Casper the ghost on PMS and that's not a pretty sight.

_Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock_…

Inuyasha felt his eyelids droop as the sound of the clock filled his ears. 'How long does it take for one stupid registration' he thought to himself as his state of mind slowly drifted off elsewhere. His eyes finally gave in to the power of fatigue as he leaned against the wall in a light snooze. His eyes rolled under their lids as the bright light of the hallway distracted him from getting some sleep. He was soon engaged in a peaceful slumber. He was in some sort of dream but it contained no image. It was more of a dream of feeling then sight. He felt something warm brush against him. It was so smooth and warm at touch. On impulse, his body slightly moved as it tried to feel more of its warmth. Then the smell hit him. It was a smell he really couldn't compare to anything. The first thing that came to mind was strength. It smelt of strength and courage. Boy, had he been in one too many fights if he started comparing scents to attributes. But it was something he knew a lot about or at least wanted a lot. He yearned forstrength and always wanted more with each passing day, but every time he felt he gained more power it was never enough. His eyebrows furrowed as he slept. He wanted this smell. It was faint but if it could add to his strength, if it could aid in achieving his goal of ultimate power, even just a little…

Amber coloured orbs peaked under his eyelids. He slowly blinked a couple of times trying to rid his vision of the blurriness he saw. When his vision was finally in focus he noticed that Kagome was no longer sitting on the bench. 'Damn, she beat me to the registration. Great.' he bitterly thought. He then felt the warmth that haunted his dream on his shoulder. Fully awake now, he shifted his head to see Kagome's hands cupped on top of his shoulder.

"God, what is wrong with you?! Get away from me." Inuyasha wailed like a school girl.

"Stop fussing or you'll frighten her!" Kagome replied back in a harsh whisper. She then lifted her cupped hands off of the startled boy's shoulder and carefully moved to face him.

Inuyasha could only stare at her with total bewilderment at what she could possibly mean by '_her'_. Kagome then carefully opened her cupped hands to reveal a fury little brown spider that sat in the middle of her palm. Inuyasha couldn't think of what was worst; the fact that some spider was chilling on top of his shoulder or the fact that this girl now had it in her hands. He watched as Kagome lifted her finger to pet the spider that danced in her hand. Her blue eyes shown bright with excitement as the spider maneuvered over the lines of her palm. The spider then moved from her palm to her index finger. Kagome then lifted her finger in level with Inuyasha's amber orbs.

"If you wish to live and thrive, let the spider run alive."she softly said with her eyes still locked on the spider.

"Come again?" Inuyasha said irritated.

"You know, it's that saying. You're lucky! Spiders are known to bring good luck and fortune to those they come across. If you let it live good things are bound to come your…"

"You shouldn't waste your time believing in that shit." Inuyasha interrupted her as he pushed her arm away from his face.

Kagome let out a small gasp as the spider was flung from her finger to the floor. She then turned to look at Inuyasha with a frown.

"What's wrong in believing in a living thing? You didn't have to send the spider crashing to the floor?!" she said in an upset tone.

"Listen. The time you waste believing in stupid superstitions like that could be used in making your own luck and fortune. So wake up from your stupid fantasy already." Inuyasha hissed back as he flicked her forehead with his finger. He then waited for the girl to reply with some witty remark or complaint but instead she just stood there staring at him with her glossy eyes. A few minutes of silence passed between the two before she spoke again.

"Would you have killed the spider if I hadn't taken it off your shoulder?" she asked in a faint voice.

"Next!" The woman cried again as she stood through the opening of the office door.

Inuyasha only stared back at the girl with his golden orbs filled with a murky darkness as he took a few steps toward the office door. He stopped when he saw the little spider crawling around in front of his black dress shoe.

"Why should I show mercy to the weak? Without strength you might as well parish from this world." He coldly answered as he stepped on the spider before him. He then took out his registration form out of his pocket and disappeared behind the office door.

Kagome stood in the hall silently as she watched the office door close with a slam. Never had she heard words so cold before. Her eyes couldn't help but express sadness as she saw the little spider on the floor curled up in a tiny ball. She bent down to her knees to lift the dead spider only to be surprised as it popped from its curled position and crawled off into a small vent in the school wall. Kagome watch the little spider scurry along with a grin as she rose back up to her feet. She then took a seat back on the wooden bench as she contemplated his words.

Kagome only let out a sigh as she relaxed her back on the bench. She then tilted her head towards the ceiling as she swung her legs back and forth underneath her seat. She then whispered into the silence of the hallway,

"Sometimes the strongest beings are the weakest, Inuyasha."

--

"Welcome to a brand new school year! I'm Ms. Ayako Tanaka and I will be your homeroom teacher for the year. Please take out your books and turn to page nine as I take attendance." The teacher announced to the class as she took her seat at the front desk. The classroom was buzzing with chatter and gossip as the students followed the instructions of their teacher. Sango wiped a tear from her eye as she yawned in her seat. She then turned around to see Ayame already gossiping about her encounter with the new kid, Inuyasha. She then bent toward the side of her desk as she tired to grab her textbook from under her seat's basket. When she finally got a hold on the dusty thing, the door to the classroom suddenly swung open. Startled, Sango dropped her book on the floor and grumbled as she bent even further to pick it up.

"Good morning classroom 109 and to the beautiful Miss Tanaka." The raven haired boy chimed. The class full of students only paused for a second before they continued on in their chatting frenzy. The indigo eyed boy then made his way to Ms. Tanaka's front desk.

"Ah, Mr. Hoshi. Early with the attendance retrieval as usual I see." Miss Tanaka said with a sigh.

"Ayako, your face surely does your name some justice." the boy said with a smile as he lifted the young teacher's hand and raised it against his lips. (A/N: Ayako means _"pretty child"_ in Japanese)

Miss Ayako only closed her eyes in irritation before she pulled her hand way from the student.

"Mr. Hoshi, I thought I told you last year that I wanted you to wait _outside_ for the attendance." Miss Tanaka said in annoyance as she wiped her kissed hand on her lap.

"Of course I remember Miss, but I don't understand why you have to use that cover-up when no one's paying attention." The young boy replied as he moved his eyebrows up and down.

"OUT!!" the teacher screamed as she pointed her finger towards the door.

The once buzzing classroom fell to a silent hush.

Miroku only shrugged his shoulders as he turned around and made his way for the door. As he passed the first row of students, he noticed in the far corner of the classroom that a particular _female_ student was sitting in her desk in a rather odd position. He then shoved his hands in his pockets as he veered off course from the door to the girl's desk.

A bead of sweat fell from the side of Sango's cheek as she stretched her fingers towards her textbook. This could all have been easily avoided if she wasn't so God damn lazy but she was almost there. 'Just a little further' her mind encouraged her as she stuck her tongue out in concentration. As she felt her finger tips touch the spine of her book, a voice broke her out of her concentrated state.

"I always thought pink looked good on you Sango." the handsome boy said with a devilish grin.

Sango's cheeks immediately turned a bright red in realization of the boy's comment. Miroku's eyes were still locked on the girl's plaid kilt that revealed Sango's neon pink underwear due to the position she was in. Giggles could be heard from neighboring classmates who had witnessed the ordeal. Sango immediately sat back properly in her seat, leaving her textbook to lie on the floor, as she tried to cover her modesty. She then gazed daggers at the grinning boy before her as she watched him lean towards her face. When he felt he was close enough, Miroku placed his finger on his cheek.

"What do you say about giving old Miroku a welcome back kiss, love?"

_SMACK_

The young boy stood frozen in a state of shock as the pain slowly immerged from his tender cheek. More laughs could be heard from the classroom as Sango huffed in satisfaction and crossed her arms together.

"I think pink looks a lot better on you, perv!" Sango spat as she watched Miroku's cheek turn a deep pink.

The clouds swam in the sky as the sun's brilliant glow accented the blueness of the sky. Kagome took in a deep breath of the warm breeze as she stepped outside into the school's courtyard. It was only noon but she was knee deep in assignments and essays but still held a smile. High school life was great. The bustling noise of students her age, the tapping sound of chalk hitting its board, the interesting lectures, the friendly environment, it was all so new to her and she made sure that she took every little bit in.

She scanned around the courtyard as she watched the student body partake in lunch. She never realized how people automatically swarmed into packs. The courtyard seemed to be divided into little sections, each having specific characteristics. She first noticed the group of girls that hung around the school's fountain. They were all very slim with luscious long hair. They talked with such speed that their chatter reminded Kagome of buzzing bees. Ironically enough, they were the cheerleaders for the Joshibi Academy Honey Bees. She then saw another group of teens near the bleachers. They wore funny accessories with wild makeup and lots of black. They appeared to be playing hide and seak with the sun as the sat there huddled underneath a giant beach umbrella. There were the handsome guys that were in deep conversation about abs and the group of kids who laughed at absolutely anything. Kagome was engaged in it all as she continued to observe all the was going on around her.

She suddenly began to cough wildly as she inhaled the familiar scent of smoke. Her attention was then focused on a willow tree that sat deep within the school's courtyard. There she saw a familiar silver haired boy sitting next to the tree enjoying another one of his cigarettes. She watched intently from a far distance as he sat alone under the tree. She couldn't really tell from where she stood but she could feel the deep scowl embedded on his face. Soon, all the noise and activity seemed to disappear around her as her blue eyes continued to stare. The afternoon's air blew his sliver locks around his chiseled face as he sat against the old tree. He seemed to be lost in thought as he stared emotionless to the ground. She couldn't help but be reminded of her former self as she watched him wallow in thoughts known only to him. She seemed to be drawn to his eyes. They were such a bright amber but felt so heavy and dark. Why were they so filled with pain? She began to cough even harder as the smell of tobacco continued floated in the air. 'Man, he really needs to quit.' she mumbled to herself.

"Hey, Kagome!" a familiar voice sounded from a far.

She took her eyes off the smoking boy to see Sango waving from a small hill in the courtyard. She kindly waved back and made her way towards her. She smiled when she also saw Ayame wildly waving back at her too, but as she drew closer she noticed they were sitting with a boy she hadn't met. The boy had a small frown on his face as he rubbed his sore cheek. His indigo eyes watered as they stared in Sango's direction. 'He sure is cute.' Kagome thought with a blush as she reached the hill.

"Sango, did you have to hit me so hard?" the young boy whined. "I felt this during all three periods!" he whined as he tried to snuggle against her shoulder for comfort.

"Well you deserved it! Hoshi, I've known you since elementary school and remained your friend hoping that you'd change. Why was I so naïve lord why?" she cried as Ayame giggled to her comment.

"KAGOME!!" Ayame screamed as she noticed that her friend had arrived.

"Nice to see you again too, Ayame." Kagome said with a giggle.

"Hey, so how's your first day treating you? Any problems?" Sango said with a grin when her new friend took a seat on the grass with them.

"No!" Kagome said nervously as she remembered her morning encounter. "Ah…everyone's been really nice and my homeroom teacher seemed pretty nice as well." she said more relaxed. She looked amongst the four of them and noticed that a certain hazel eyed boy was missing.

"Where's Kohaku?" she asked as she looked around the courtyard.

"Pass it here, Kohaku!" she heard a distant voice call as she watched Kohaku run with a soccer ball.

"Don't worry about him. He's a really shy kid but he'll be fine on his own." Sango said with a grin.

"My, my, my, how rude of you Sango. How dare you not introduce me to your gorgeous friend!" The raven haired boy said with a smirk.

"Oh Kagome, this is Miroku. I suggest you stay as far away from him as humanly possible." Sango whispered.

"I heard that." he spat back. "Now, Kagome was it? Pretty name for a pretty lady!" the boy chimed as he inched his way beside her.

Kagome blushed as she placed a strand of her hair behind her ear. Before Miroku could even reach five inches beside the blue eyed babe, a hard object collided with the back of his head as he went crashing down to the grassy ground. Sango then went to pick up her textbook she had just thrown and sat on Miroku's back.

"Down Boy!" Sango hissed as the boy spat grass out of his mouth.

All four of them broke out in laughter.

As the four of them chatted and ate their lunches, Kagome noticed that Ayame had been awfully quite.

"You want some of my fried shrimp, Ayame?" Kagome asked the silent red head.

"Oh Kagome you caught me! Ever since this morning I can't seem to get him out of my head." Ayame whined as she pointed in the direction of Inuyasha.

Kagome could only stare at her baffled.

"Will you stop talking about him?!" Sango wailed.

"Yeah, I don't like that guy. I sense bad vibes emitting from his presence. Plus, with all the talk that's been going around about him, he might pose competition with the ladies." Miroku concluded.

"Look. He's really stubborn and awfully rude. I wouldn't get attached Aya…" Kagome paused as she sensed three pairs of eyes on her.

"YOU KNOW HIM!?" Ayame squealed.

"I wouldn't say know…I mean I've met him…it's not what you think!" Kagome desperately pleaded as she shook her head back and forth.

But before she could explain herself, she was making her way to the willow tree while her three friends cheered her on to fetch the one they called Inuyasha.

--

**A/N:** **DONE!! Whew, this was getting really long so I had to end it here kiddies. But don't you worry because in chapter four things begin to heat up between Inuyasha and Kagome. Also, a couple of new characters will be introduced. Who could they be?? I hope this chapter wasn't to boring but I needed to develop more situations between our two lovers before sparks actually start to fly. I know, your probably thinking, "What ever happened to love at first sight?" Trust me when I say I do believe in it but unfortunately it doesn't happen very often :(. But if you guys are patient, I promise some lovey doveyness in the chapters to come.**

**Thanks again to all your reviews. **

**Later Dayz.**


	4. Fighting Love Champ

**Punch!  
****By: ****MangoCandy64**

**--**

**  
Standard Disclaimer**  
**Warning: **Explicit language

**Chapter 4: Fighting Love Champ**

"_Oww, not so hard!" the boy cried as he gently massaged his tender nose. The boy continued to wriggle on the plastic stool as his father tried to tend to his injured nose. His father could only watch him with a sigh as he put down the cotton ball for the third time. _

"_Well, this is what you get for playing too rough!" his father reprimanded his young amber eyed son as he dipped a new cotton ball in rubbing alcohol._

"_It's called training dad, not playing." The boy huffed in response as he crossed his arms together with a bitter scowl. _

"_It could be called flying for all I care! Point is, you always got to look out for number one and how does nearly slicing your head open account as that, huh son?" _

"_Jeez dad, it's just a scratch…OWWW!!" the boy squealed once more. _

_He didn't get it. It was always like this when he got hurt. What was such the big deal anyways? It was times like these he wished his mother hadn't left. She'd just treat his wounds with a smile and reward him with a bowl of rocky road ice cream afterwards. He never quite got along with his father but what child does? He was scary when he was mad and annoying when he wasn't. And why out of all people was he lecturing him on how not to play rough? He was a mob leader for crying out loud! He was never home and he was never there. Why should he bother to care now? _

_The towering man then reached over for the band-aid box which sat next to the spilt bag of cotton ball's and open bottle of rubbing alcohol on the kitchen counter. _

"_Here you go, sport." the man said playfully as he placed the band-aid across the fidgeting boy's nose. _

_Once the band-aid was securely placed on his small nose, Inuyasha could only cross his arms with a fuming face as he turned his head to stare at the kitchen counter. _

_Sensing what was troubling his son, he let out another sigh before he ruffled his boy's sliver mane. _

"_Look. I was only concerned about your well being; it's nothing you should be pouting about. You're only nine, kid; way too young to be getting into major scraps."_

"_You're wrong." The boy sulked. "I'm ten and I've been ten for a month and a half now!" Inuyasha threw back as he now faced the direction of his father. _

_His father could only chuckle to his son's remark._

"_It's not funny! Training, that's all I was doing. Then the next thing you know, some retard comes up to me saying how I have some nasty thug of a father and that you can't fight for jack. It's not my fault, it's not…he gave me the perfect opportunity to test out my strength. I thought you'd be proud but all you do is lecture and punish me like you're some perfect father. But you're not! Maybe that kid was right. You're all talk. But in reality, you're just weak…"_

_SLAP _

_The pain swiftly ran across his cheek as his amber eyes widened in utter shock._

_The young Inuyasha slowly rotated his head to once again face his father. His eyes watered as he intensely glared at his father's face. His expression was not full of hate but overwhelming disappointment. He watched as his father lifted his leaning body off the marble counter and rise to his full height. He took a step closer to his son who was still glued on the plastic stool. Inuyasha slightly trembled as fiery amber eyes stared back at his own. _

"_If there is one thing that I've taught you in this world it is that strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. But if you are not willing to fully understand that, then I will never be proud of you as a fighter!" _

--

The amber eyed boy was pulled away from his thoughts when a small beeping noise sounded from his wrist. He pulled up the white sleeve of his dress shirt to reveal a silver wrist watch.

'Ten to one.' he recited in his head as he positioned his body more comfortably against the weeping willow.

He sighed in frustration when he noticed that the cigarette between his fingers was nearly ash. The bustling noise of teens within the courtyard began to diminish swiftly as the warning bell went off for students to return back from lunch. With a heavy growl, Inuyasha threw the remainder of his smoke on the grassy field as he slipped his right hand into his back pant pocket. He struggled to find something that felt like a lighter when something jagged scratched him. To his surprise, he pulled out the necklace he found the night he was at the hospital's park. The pendent sparkled in the sun as he gently rocked it like a pendulum in front of his face.

"What the…how did you get in…" the boy slowly spoke to himself.

As the movement of the necklace put him in a slight trance, his eyes slowly widened when he suddenly realized that the necklace was from the night he had met…

"You!" Inuyasha snapped in surprise seeing Kagome only a few feet away as she walked towards him. He immediately shoved the piece of jewelry in his pocket before she finally stopped in front of him.

"Yeah, me…" Kagome said shyly. "I guess we both really suck at introductions, huh. What do you say we start over?"

"Goodie. Can I kick you in the crotch this time?" he replied in sarcastic joy.

"Yeah about that, look I'm real sorry. I had a lot on my mind that night and let's just say midnight just isn't my happy hour." She said in an apologetic tone.

That's right. They had met on hospital grounds. A strong breeze suddenly whisked in the pair's direction making both of them squint their eyes as their hair danced with the wind. Inuyasha began to wonder what this girl was doing at a hospital in the first place as he watched her look off to the side in thought. Inuyasha then placed his arms behind his head to cushion it from the trees rough bark.

'This freak becomes more interesting every time we meet.' He concluded in his mind as he waited for her to speak again.

"Anyways, my friends and I were wondering if you wanted to spend the last few minutes of lunch with us seeing as you're…umm…seeing as you might want a little company. She carefully said trying not to insult the boy more than she already had since they met.

"Friends?" Inuyasha slowly said. He then tilted his head an inch to the left, pass the view of the girl's slender legs, to see a bubbly red head, some pissed off chick, and a horny dude that sat rather close to both girls, wave in his direction from a hill a few yards from where he sat.

He suddenly cringed at the thought of being in the middle of that mix and turned his head back to the girl who stood above him.

"I'd rather you kick me in the balls again, thanks." he answered.

They were really getting good at the whole awkward silence thing as they both stared off at the half empty courtyard.

Was it her fault? She had to agree that she wasn't exactly Miss Friendly when they had first met. Could she blame him for being so distance? No, she had a feeling it was more then that. Kagome's thoughts drifted to that morning as she continued to stare aimlessly at some messy haired kid dunking a can in a garbage bin. _"Why should I show mercy to the weak? Without strength you might as well parish from this world."_ Those words were unbelievably frigid to her. What on earth had this boy gone through for him to speak so loathsome about a little situation like killing a spider? He seemed so distant from this world. And those eyes, those brilliant amber eyes that were an open window to no soul.

'What am I saying?' her mind questioned. Why did she feel the need to analyze him like she was? Kagome took in a deep breath of the grassy air, already knowing the answer. It was because this boy held the same eyes as that little blue eyed girl that used to live in the hospital.

"Kagome!" she heard her friends call her from the hill.

She really had to stop day dreaming.

'Right, I'm on a mission to befriend Inuyasha for my friends' sake.' she said determined in her mind as she hit her fist against the palm of her hand.

"Look, Inuyasha I…" she began.

But to Kagome's surprise the boy was fast asleep against the weeping willow. She slightly blushed at his calm and peaceful form, with his hair swaying lightly in the breeze in time with the leaves of the tree he sat underneath. Who would have thought that under his feisty attitude and cigarettes was a really good looking guy. Kagome blushed even more when she realized just how much she was blushing. She couldn't take her eyes off of him and couldn't help but feel guilty about staring at him the way she did as he slept. Her heart seemed to race with every relaxed breath he took. 'Was he only this content when he was asleep?' she thought shyly.

Suddenly her attention was pulled away from his face to his arms. His sleeves were rolled up to reveal scratched, bruised and battered arms. Never had she seen arms so damaged before. She couldn't help but be curious as she bent down to his level for a better look. His toned arms held scars and scraps, each telling its own story. Embedded in his muscles were bruises that looked so raw and tender. She then noticed a huge scar that seemed older than all the others. 'No wonder he's always at the hospital.' She thought as she lifted her hand to touch the familiar looking scar. To her surprise, his arm felt so strong like it was made out of steal itself. It was rough and hard despite all the wounds it held. Were these wounds just for show?

"Eek!" Kagome yelped in panic when she felt a hand grab her arm. Scared, she lost her balance and fell lightly on Inuyasha's chest.

Before she even realized what had just happened she opened her eyes to see her face only inches away from his. His eyes were so intense, as they stared fiercely into her blue ones.

"Ever heard of keeping your hands to yourself?" Inuyasha said groggily still half asleep as he held her arm firmly in his hand.

"Sorry." Kagome blankly stated as she looked off to the side to try and escape the coldness of his eyes.

'Is she blushing?' he questioned in his mind as he blinked to insure himself of what he saw.

He nimbly let go of her arm and pushed himself up to his own two feet. Kagome try to suppress her growing blush as she felt his body rub against her own due to their closeness.

Still on the ground, Kagome looked up to Inuyasha as he quickly rolled down his sleeves and began to put on his blazer.

"Umm, about your arms…"

"Drop it." He quickly snapped still focusing on buttoning his blazer.

But Kagome was too intrigued to stop from asking.

"Is that why you're always at the hospital?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" he said trying to sound confused.

Kagome was determined to get an answer now.

"There was this small little boy who walked into the hospital one night. He was soaking wet from the night's rain and had mud all over his shoes. His eyes looked like they hadn't had a wink of sleep in days. He looked up to one of the nurses and said that his father was dead. The nurse quickly sent the ambulance immediately to where the boy had described the location of his father's dead body. The nurse then kneeled to the little boy's height and asked if he'd be okay. All the boy did was grin and said he'd be better than okay. The nurse then noticed a huge gash on the boy's right arm. After a few days in the hospital, the gash had healed but left a huge scar…a scar just like…" Kagome solemnly said as Inuyasha stared into her eyes with horror.

"How the hell do you…"

"If you wanna talk I can…"

"Shutup, would ya!?" Inuyasha interrupted. He then bent down to look at her square in the face.

"Little girls like you shouldn't get wrapped up with guys like me, got it!" he growled as he got up and made his way towards the school's entrance.

_Ring Ring Ring _

Kagome could only sit on the grass with hurt filled eyes as the school bell rang for students to return back from lunch. Slowly, the courtyard emptied as she just sat there pulling out blades of grass with her hand. She was so focused on stripping the ground of its grass that she hadn't noticed that Ayame, Sango, and Miroku were standing beside her.

"What happened kiddo?" Sango said with a bit of a frown as she felt her friend's depressed aura surround her.

"Yeah, I thought you guys were…you know…bam chicka wao wao." Miroku playfully added. He then felt Ayame's elbow jab his shoulder.

"IF HE TOTTALY DID SOMETHING TO HURT YOU, YOU CAN BET YA OBASAN THAT AYAME IS ON THE CASE! I'LL HAVE THAT…THAT MUTT BEGGING TO APOLOGIZE TO YOU. WHAT KIND OF WORLD DO WE LIVE IN WHERE THUGS LIKE HIM HURT INNOCENT LITTLE GIRLS? HE MIGHT BE ULTRA SEXY BUT THAT DOES NOT EXCUSE HIM FROM HIS ACTIONS. IT IS I, AYAME, WHICH WILL SEEK JUSTICE FOR YOUNG GIRLS EVERYWHERE AND…blah, blah, blah…" Ayame rambled on with stars in her eyes.

Again, all three just stared with nervous smiles.

"It's nothing, really!" Kagome tried to convince her friends as she picked herself off the ground. "He said that he'll think about eating lunch with us some other time, that's all. Sorry for making you guys worry." She said with a kind smile.

"Well, as long as you're alright." Sango replied.

"Need a hug?" Miroku asked as he repeatedly opened and closed his hands towards Kagome's breasts. "Ow! I sometimes wonder if you're really just a man, Sango." Miroku cried as he rubbed the fresh new lump that swelled on top of his head.

--

The sound of the last school bell echoed in the peaceful afternoon sky. Chatter and laughter filled the air as the school kids exited the campus for the day. Kagome slowly walked out of the maroon doors as she held a tiny cell phone close to her ear.

"No, I think I'll walk home today. Don't worry I'll be fine. Uh huh. Uh huh. Nope I didn't forget. I have the bottle in my bag. Yes, four o'clock sharp, I know. I love you too Obasan. Bye." Kagome finished saying as she flipped her cell phone shut to end the call.

It had been such an awesome day. It almost made her cry to know that she had missed so much of high school, but was glad that she still had the opportunity to catch up on teenage life. She continued to walk down the school steps onto the sidewalk as she reminisced on her day. She softly laughed when she dusted flour off her kilt. Her favourite moment of the day had to be home economics at fourth period. On top of that, she felt great, literally. It was already 3pm and she wasn't drowsy or nauseous like usual. The hospital had warned her numerous times that she was still unstable and unfit to leave so sudden but she didn't care. She was tired of others watching her waste away. Besides, they too needed to take a break from worrying about her so much. She was thankful to every single one of her doctors and nurses but if she didn't go through with this, if she didn't take this risk, she was certainly going to die with regret. Besides, she'd be okay as long as she took her meds on time. It was all worth it. The jokes, the laughter, the gossip, the friends, it all seemed like a blessing.

"Hey Kagome!" a young boy called in her direction.

Kagome looked around at her surroundings trying to match the voice with a body. She finally found a familiar looking boy that stood near the school's underground parking lot entrance.

"Kohaku!" Kagome said as she waved and made her way to his direction. "How was your day?" she continued when she finally made it.

"Not as bad as I might have thought, you?" he said with a timid smile.

"Can't complain." She replied with a bigger smile. She then curiously wondered what he was doing near the parking lot. "You drive?" she asked confused.

"I wish. I'm waiting for Sango." He replied.

"Mind if I wait with you?"

"Nope, I mean if you got nothing else to do I don't see why not…" Kohaku said trying to hide his blush.

The two continued in endless conversation as they patiently waited for Sango. Kagome couldn't help but continuously smile and giggle as she chatted with her friend. Friend. She finally had a friend. Quite a few actually. Who would have thought that one day, Kagome Higurashi, would have friends beyond her doctors and nurses.

"That guy this morning didn't give you any trouble after I left did he?" Kohaku asked breaking Kagome from her thoughts.

That's right. How could she forget? Even with all the things today that she had done and learned, experienced, witness and felt, the one thing that seemed to stick out was that boy. The boy who she had secretly known since she was a child. The boy she had finally talked too after all those years of watching him go in and out of the hospital. The boy she never understood but was the only one who possibly ever could.

"Oh, you mean Inuyasha? Naw, he's like that with everyone I think." she replied.

After a few more minutes Sango arrived where the two had been talking.

"What took you so long and…and why is your face all red?" Kohaku asked puzzled.

"What!? Nothing I uh ran here so…" Sango said while panting.

"Oh really? Is that why the side of your neck is red too?" Kohaku said pointing at the whopper of a hickey.

"Well, I guess we'll be going now!! Later Kagome!" Sango said lightning fast as she pushed Kohaku into the parking lot.

"Bye." Kagome said with a giggle as she saw Kohaku yelping in pain as his sister shoved him down the parking lot.

"It was Miroku again wasn't it! Ow! And if you didn't want me to find out you could have done a better job at buttoning up your shirt a little. Ow!! Hey!" Kohaku rambled off to his sister. Kagome smiled as she shook her head at hearing Kohaku's comments echo from the parking lot.

Kagome then looked at the time on her cell phone and made her way back onto the sidewalk. 'Better head home I guess' she said with a sigh knowing she had to return to the hospital. It was the agreement she made with her grandmother. She'd get to go to high school for the year if she returned to the hospital immediately after school ended. But like she said, it was worth it.

Kagome walked along the sidewalk that was in front of the school. She then stopped when she saw the courtyard to stare at the lonely willow tree. The way its leaves calmly blew in the afternoon breeze made her shiver at how soothing it was to watch. She could almost see the sleeping boy that sat underneath it at lunch with his peaceful face.

"Had enough Inuyasha?" she heard someone say, breaking her out of her thoughts once again.

It was coming from somewhere in the courtyard but her eyes failed to pick anything up. She was defiantly curious now. She ran off from the sidewalk and onto the grassy field of the courtyard. She could hear them. There were defiantly people around but she still couldn't find them.

"Hold him down! Idiots." She heard the voice say again.

She then ran towards the back of the courtyard. There she saw them. It was Inuyasha. His blazer lay on the ground beside him as he panted with a sinister grin. She found it awkward at how he could be smiling when he was surrounded by so many guys that all looked like they wanted to smash his head in. Kagome kneeled behind a small bush to get closer to the scene that was unfolding before her.

"How dare you even step foot in my high school you bastard." One boy cried.

Kagome concluded that he must have been the one in charge. He had long dark hair in a pony tail with ravishing blue eyes. He had such a demanding power over the other boys as he stood in front of all the rest facing Inuyasha. Kagome's eyes widened a bit when she suddenly realized that every single boy went to her school. Every single one of them had a Joshibi Academy crest on their blazers. 'Well I'll be.' Kagome thought to herself. She shifted a few leaves in the bush to acutely analyze the boys more closely. They all seemed to be around the same age and also looked really tough stereotypically speaking. How was it that Inuyasha got himself in this kind of fix?

"Well cry me a river, asshole." She heard Inuyasha reply to the boy's comment.

"I'm gunna let you in on something, Inuyasha. I'm a man of negotiation. So cough up the shit you stole from us and I'll think about going easy on you."

"Hey Kouga, is your father still in a coma? The only thing I regret when my dad was still around was that I wasn't there to see him bash your faggit of a father's sorry ass into the ground." Inuyasha evilly laughed.

"You fuckin'…Inuyasha, your way out of your head this time! Do you honestly believe you can take on all of my boys?! My old man was right about you. You're just as fucked up as your rotting corpse of a father!!" The blue eyed boy yelled in pure hatred.

That did it.

In that moment Kouga's entourage went berserk on Inuyasha. Kagome slightly flinched as the fight began.

"Inuyasha, you idiot." She silently cursed to herself in the bush.

But when she opened her eyes to fully take in the fight she nearly gasped at what she saw. Inuyasha was single handily taking on every single guy Kouga threw at him. She watched as Inuyasha punch one kid in the nose who instantly fell to the ground with blood gushing from the middle of his face. He then blocked a punch from another boy behind him and swiftly kicked him in the crotch. One by one, every boy was sent flying to the ground. Kagome couldn't even blink afraid she'd miss the action. She was amazed by his power. His movements were so accurate and so precise. His strength made her shiver. Her senses began to flutter. Before she knew it, Kagome was blushing as he watched him fight. It was nothing like she had ever seen before. His eyes were more alive than she had ever seen them and his hair danced around him as he kicked another of Kouga's men. Kagome's heart began to race. She didn't know why but he just seemed so attractive in his fighting stance. Her lusting state was broken as she watched Inuyasha punch another kid so hard that his own knuckles were drenched in his own blood. Kagome was now a little horrified as sudden realization hit her. All those bruises and scratches, they weren't from injuries inflicted on him by others but injuries he inflicted on himself. And on top of that it seemed that he enjoyed it all. She watched from the tiny shrub as he grinned with every punch. He seemed to be having a blast with every guy he brought down to their knees. As much as it pained her to see some show so much joy in inflicting harm onto others, what else could he do? It was 10+ against one and she knew he couldn't just stand there. Was it his fault when fighting was all he knew?

Just when it seemed that Inuyasha had the upper hand, the boys continued fighting. No mater how good a fighter he was, Kagome knew this wouldn't end well. As the fight waged on, Inuyasha's movements started to slow down.

'Shit, why won't they stay down?' Inuyasha thought as he punched another kid in the head.

"Ahhhhhh!!" Inuyasha blurted out as he was finally hit in the gut.

Kagome gasped from her bush thinking it was impossible that he just got hit.

Soon after his first blow, Inuyasha was repeatedly getting hit in every single direction. He had lost his momentum and as amazing as it was for him to be able to keep off all of Kouga's men for ten whole minutes, the reality of the situation was kicking in. Inuyasha was finally held steady by two guys as Kouga walked up to his battered up face. As Kouga looked down at him, Inuyasha spat a bit of blood on his cheek as he coughed from the pain of being pined. Kouga then grabbed Inuyasha's blood stained collar and smiled as he stared into his sinister amber orbs.

Kagome couldn't take this. She could see now why Inuyasha could only look at life with those heavy sad eyes. Was he always forced into these kinds of messes? How could that, that Koguo or whatever his name was, stand there and think that he had won? It was 10+ against one and he did none of the fighting!! She could feel it swell inside her. She could feel the demonic hatred Inuyasha had burning inside him when he could only stare helplessly at his enemy. It wasn't fair! How could anyone do this to one person? Kagome grabbed the dirt on the ground as she tried to fathom how on earth any of this made sense.

"Be grateful that you were beaten by the best, faggit!" Kouga spat back as he clenched his fist tightly, ready to deliver the final blow.

As Kouga was ready to deliver the final punch, Kagome ran in front of Inuyasha with her arms spread apart. Everyone stared in astonishment as they tried to contemplate where this girl had come from.

Inuyasha's eyes widened in utter disbelief as he stared at the back of Kagome's silky ebony hair.

"What are you doing?" Inuyasha yelled at the back of Kagome's head.

Kouga was also staring at the beauty that stood before him. He could only blush as he scanned the gorgeous girl who had as enough guts to get involved in a fight. But Kouga had unfinished business he had to attend to before he could attend to the babe.

"Princess, if you could be so kind as to step aside as I attend to the garbage behind you." Kouga kindly said to the blue eyed girl.

"Princess?!" Inuyasha and Kagome replied in unison.

Not exactly the response she expected from some thug but she went along with it.

"Your not one to talk." Kagome replied to the boy's comment.

"Excuse me…"

"Let him go. You can't honestly think that you've won?" Kagome bravely stated back.

"You got a feisty bitch here, Inuyasha." Kouga said with a smile as he shifted his gaze passed the girl's face and towards Inuyasha.

"Get the fuck outta here. I don't need help from some insane chick." Inuyasha angrily demanded to Kagome.

"Shutup, I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this because I care. And because guys like him make me sick." Kagome shot back still staring at Kouga.

Inuyasha couldn't believe what he had just heard. This girl just met him and with all the things that he had said to her, she still wanted to help him? Why was she doing this? She couldn't possibly care for some one like him? He was nothing to her and she was nothing to him so why on earth was she standing here insulting the son of one of the greatest mobsters with absolutely no fear. Inuyasha could only stared in disbelief in response to her comment.

'This girl is something else.' Inuyasha said in his mind as he slowly began to grin. Who was he to stop her? She made her decision and would face whatever consequences were to come. What he couldn't understand though was why she'd risk facing consequences for the likes of him. Yup, she was something else alright.

"Listen cutie; don't waste your time on shit like him. After I teach him a lesson, what do you say about getting to know each other a little better?" Kouga playfully replied as he stepped in closer towards Kagome and cupped his hands around her soft ass.

Inuyasha could only growl in anger. Who the fuck did he think he was? Like Inuyasha had concluded earlier, Kagome was nothing to him as he was nothing to her. So why did Kouga's dirty little stunt send him into a whirlwind of utter hatred and disgust.

All the other boys just laughed as they saw their boss get a bit kinky with the girl. The two boys that held Inuyasha began to struggle as Inuyasha tried to break free from their hold. It was no use, he was just too weak. Again with the weak. Why was he never strong enough? He trained when ever he could but still he was never strong enough. He'd try to make sense of why he couldn't stand Kouga fiddle around with Kagome latter, but right now all he wanted to do was find enough strength so he could beat that son of a bitch's face hard into the grassy field.

Punch!

Kouga slowly backed away from Kagome as his hand slowly made its way for his cheek. Pain throbbed though his entire face as he gently touched his tender wound. Kagome still stood there in a bit of a pant with her hand still clenched in a fist. Inuyasha could only stare at the girl in front of him with a growing smile. Inuyasha then slowly began to laugh as he watched Kouga's expression.

Every single one of Kouga's men could only stare in horror as Inuyasha continued to laugh to his heart's content.

Kagome also stood in shock almost unaware of what she had just done. It was all such a blur. All she could remember was the fire that swelled deep inside her. It was like a burning fury that was to hot to contain. She didn't understand it but she just had to let it out. It was something the laughing Inuyasha knew all too well about.

What better way to let it out then with a punch!

--

**A/N:** **Happy Happy 2008 guys!! I wish you all the best for the New Year! And with another year over and a new one just begun, school exams start at the end of January. So this means that I won't be updating as frequently. I'll try my best to update at least every week but high school is full of excuses to keep me off track so please be patience for future chapters! As for this chapter I said I'd add more lovey doveyness but it looks like that will have to come in chapter five :( Sry folks but it just happened that way. Anywho, tell me what you guys think because your thoughts are really encouraging to me!!**

**Thanks again to all your reviews. **

**Later Dayz.**


	5. Live, Laugh, Lust

**Punch!  
****By: ****MangoCandy64**

**--**

**  
Standard Disclaimer**  
**Warning: **Explicit language

**Chapter 5: Live, Laugh, Lust**

"_There was this small little boy who walked into the hospital one night. He was soaking wet from the night's rain and had mud all over his shoes. His eyes looked like they hadn't had a wink of sleep in days. He looked up to one of the nurses and said that his father was dead. The nurse quickly sent the ambulance immediately to where the boy had described the location of his father's dead body. The nurse then kneeled to the little boy's height and asked if he'd be okay. All the boy did was grin and said he'd be better than okay. The nurse then noticed a huge gash on the boy's right arm. After a few days in the hospital, the gash had healed but left a huge scar…a scar just like…"_

_--_

"_How are you feeling today, Miss Kagome?" the young nurse asked as she gathered the empty dish of oatmeal off of the untidy hospital bed. _

_The young girl kindly gave a weak grin in response as she positioned her self more comfortably on the bed's mattress. _

"_Well, if you need me just buzz me down on the PA system. I have to go attend one of our newer patients. He's giving us quite a struggle but he seems to have been through a lot. Have you seen him? He's a young boy just around your age. Maybe you could give him some company? He's all on his own and I'm sure he'd loved to see another friendly face his own age, don't you think?" The nurse said with a loving grin._

_The small Kagome weakly titled her head up and down with another grin in response to her favourite nurse's suggestion. _

"_Now you go and get some rest missy. You want to look all big and strong when Dr. __Ushio__comes to check up on you latter this evening." The nurse insisted as she went over to tuck the young girl under the crisp white sheets of the bed. _

_She then made her way over to the blinds to block the evenings golden sun out of the two bed hospital room. She watched as the little girl she had tended to ever since she arrived at the hospital a couple of years ago, drift back into a solemn slumber. She couldn't help but smile seeing her so beautiful in her sleep but heavily sighed as she knew the extent of this girl's reality. She silently bent down to kiss the little girl upon her nose and quietly tip toed out of the room. _

_Waiting a few minutes after the sound of the door's latch locking shut, Kagome lifted one eye open making sure she was alone. She slowly un-tucked herself and sat up on the stiff mattress. She took a few minutes to scratch her scraggly ebony hair before __feebly sliding down the edge of what seemed like a towering bed. She__sluggishly made her way to the window with a slight limp to her step. When she finally arrived, she struggled to open the blinds apart as she took a seat on the wide window sill. Her eyes curiously scanned the scenery she saw through the glass of the dusty window. The sky was a deep orange due to the brilliant sun that was ready to switch places with the moon. Her window faced the south side entrance of the hospital so there wasn't much to look at but a busy parking lot and the new children's hospital park. It was the newest installment to the hospital of just a few weeks ago. It was funded by an ex-patient's mother as a thank you from saving her only son from a nearly fetal __seizure due to Phenylketonuria. It quickly became a hit with the younger paients of the hospital. The young Kagome could only stare with cold eyes as she watched a few childern play on a see-saw._

_It wasn't fair. Why was she not allowed to play with the other kids? Why could she only run for a split second before feeling faint? Why did it take her forever to do things? Why was she so sick? Why did she have to live in a hospital? And why, oh god why, was she so damn weak? Kagome continued to stare aimsly out the window with small tears swelling in her emotionless eyes. It had been, what, three years since she'd been diagnosed with Follicular Lymphoma. When she first arrived at the hospital, many of the doctors and nurses tried to explain and simplify the meaning of her condition. _

"_Well you see Kagome, you have Follicular Lymphoma which is a type of cancer that originates in lymphocytes; a type of white blood cell in the vertebrate immune system. That's the system that acts like your body's sheild against unwanted guests in your body. That's why you're always so sleepy…"_

_She was ten, not stupid. Basically the doctors found nice ways to tell her that she was weak, had cancer, and could die at the drop of a dime. _

_Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the cries of doctors and nurses from outside her window. The attention of her blue orbs were pulled to the children's hospital park. Her eyes slightly widened when she witness a hand full of hospital staff chase down a little sliver haired boy who was making a run for it through the park. She watched as the boy jumped over swings and see-saws making it extremely difficult for his pursuers to catch him. It seemed like the boy was well on his way to freedom but Kagome continued to watch as Dr. __Hayate was on his tail. The other staff started to slow down their pace when Dr. Hayate pounced on the little boy. Just when the staff members felt they could take a sigh of relief, the boy incredibly slid under from Dr. Hayate arms, r__everse side kicked__ him in the stomach and jumped over his limped body, which was now crumpled on the ground, trying to make his escape. Even Kagome was a little shocked to see such a young boy perform such a skilled martial arts kick._

'_That must be the boy Nurse Mai's been talking about.' Kagome contemplated to herself._

_At that moment, the young Kagome yawned as her blue eyes grew heavier by the second. She began to make her way down from the window sill but before she could even reach her bed, she fell face first to the floor into a deep sleep. _

--

_It was the sound of her own heart beating through the ECG monitor that woke Kagome from her mild coma. She often had these throughout the day, only lasting a few hours at a time. She blinked a couple of times before her aqua orbs could adjust to the lighting in the room. She was back in her bed and hooked up to a couple of IVs. As she positioned her body to sit on its side, the door to the room abruptly swung open. _

"_Mr. Tashio, please refrain from slamming doors open. This is a hospital, not your house, and there are patients who are trying to recover!" the nurse said in a stern voice to the boy that was entering the room in front of her. _

"_Whatever." The amber eyed boy quickly replied. _

'_So they did catch him.' Kagome concluded to herself. _

"_Ah, you__ finally woke up! How do you feel Miss Higurashi?" the nurse said in a joyess tone to the young girl still lying in bed. _

_Kagome drowsily nodded in response. _

"_What's wrong with you? Hey nurse lady what's wrong with her? Can't she speak?" the young boy spat at the now irritated nurse. _

"_How rude! You really need to learn how to speak properly in the presence of others."_

"_Daddy's dead. He can't teach me how too now can he?" the boy replied with a sinister grin._

_The nurse could only sigh before she continued. "She's very sick and hasn't spoken ever since she was diagnosed with a rare case of Follicular Lymphoma. Don't you think that it's a little understandable? So I beg that you behave and please be a little more considerate towards her Mr. Tashio…Hey! What are you doing? Get back here!" The nurse pleaded to the boy. _

_But the boy was already standing by Kagome's bedside. He then hopped on the bed, sitting on top of her, and lowered his head directly over hers. After a few seconds of staring into each others eyes the young Inuyasha finally spoke. _

"_The world doesn't stop cuz you're dying, so stop acting like a retard and start talking before you actually can't. You weaklings are all the same." _

_Kagome couldn't believe what she was hearing. He had no idea what she had gone through in the past three years. All the pain all the tears and some snotty punk ass kid was telling her to stop acting like a retard? He had no right! Who the hell did he think he was?! She could cook an egg overtop her head with the fury spewing from within her. _

_The awkward silence in the room was destroyed by a soft murmur from Kagome's mouth._

"_What?" Inuyasha spat._

"_Shutup." Kagome whispered. _

"_Yo nurse lady, what the hell is she sayin'?" Inuyasha turned his head to the nurse who was trying to pull him off of Kagome._

"_SHUTUP!!" Kagome screamed at the top of her lungs, making both the nurse and Inuyasha topple to the floor. _

_The beeping sound of the ECG monitor doubled in speed as groans could be heard from below. _

_When both the nurse and Inuyasha recovered from their fall, Inuyasha could only smirk and rudely stare at both the frazzled nurse and riled up Kagome._

"_Keh, you stupid doctors are all wrong. Grouchy over there can speak just fine. Suck it up princess!"_

"_Why did I even think of putting you in this room? Let's go see if we can find a vacant room for you ALONE." The nurse cried as she took the boy by his arm and began to 'escort' him out of the room. _

_Kagome couldn't believe the guy. He had no idea the pain and struggle she had gone through. All the days she thought of just giving up. She was tired of living with the smell of sanitizer and blood. She was tired of the shots and check ups. Suck it up? Try being abandon by your mother and being diagnosed with cancer. Kagome bet he was only in this hospital because he had an upset tummy or something. But before she could finish her thought, she saw the enormous gash at the back of the boy's arm as he exited the room with the nurse. It looked worst than some of the bed sores the quadriplegics have down in the trama unit. It had been freshly stitched but that didn't make it look any less painful than it did. It was a surprise to her that she hadn't noticed it when he first stormed in. But why would she? She was always so wrapped up with her own condition that she didn't take note of anything else. Kagome could only feel a huge amount of guilt as the beeping of the ECG monitor __retuned to a normal pace. Maybe that boy had a point. Kagome continued to contemplate on what had just happened as a wave of sleep began to overcome her._

_After their encounter, the boy was released from the hospital a week later but it was definitely not the last time she would come face to face with the rowdy brat. He often returned to the hospital at the regular intervals of every six months to a year, always with a fresh new injury and his egotistical attitude but nothing like the one she had witness when they first met. They never spoke to each other for the fact the boy had no idea that she still resided in the hospital. Kagome was no spy but she couldn't help it if she happened to catch a glimpse of his actions from the corner of her eye as she walked through the halls of the hospital from time to time. He was an interesting character to observe, that's all, and she couldn't help but be curious as to all his check ins to what was essentially 'her home'. His words were forever stuck in her mind ever since that day and she very well knew those rude words held some truth. She began to speak again although she would never admit it was thanks to him. Weeks turned into months and months into years as she continued to watch the amber eyed delinquent from afar. Her once icy blue eyes had softened and she would grin with true happiness from time to time. She was still weak due to her illness but had gained the strength to accept it and move on; the strength to live. She vowed one day that she would return the favor._

_Seven years later as the sliver haired boy had made his routine check out of the hospital, leaving a fuming nurse Catherine to clean up after his mess in room 204, Kagome watched as he walked through the parking lot towards her favourite place, the children's hospital park, through her window. The clock ticked as its hands displayed twelve twenty midnight on its face. Kagome suddenly hopped out of bed and threw on some casual clothing as she removed the IVs attached to her arms. She put on a white cardigan she had received from her grandmother last week as she bent down to lace up her shoes. _

"_I think I'll go for a swing." She chimed to herself as she laced her last shoe and walked out of her room. _

--

Laughter. They say it's good for the body and soul. It is also one interpretation of how we express happiness. Often, laugher is a result of something funny or from the act of being tickled. Strong laughter can even bring tears of joy or a massive stomach cramp (or a demanding ab workout as I like to call it) as a physical response to the act. Laughter is everywhere. Who can not say they have not witness, met or have been the guy at the party that laughs so hard that milk went spewing out their nose or hasn't seen the girl who laughed so hard that she accidentally peed in her favourite pair of jeans. Laugher is one of the greatest tools one will ever have. Like Mark Twain once said, _"The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter.__" _Whether Inuyasha knew this or not, his booming snickering began to crawl underneath Kouga's skin.

Kouga was always known for being the 'big wolf on campus' so to speak. Classifying him as a jock was an understatement. He was more like a celebrity and had the ego to match. Good looking and not to mention that he was the son of one of the most infamous mob leaders in Tokyo. The boys wanted to be him and the girls wanted to be with him. Speaking of girls, he was adored by each one, from the skimpy cheerleaders to Mr. Sugisaki the homosexual dramatic arts professor. He was the region's national track star and a nifty fighter when he actually got his hands dirty. He was the kind of guy you could only find in an author's imagination or one of those expensive itemed catalogues. Despite the many scraps he got himself into, everyone considered him to be a happy-go-lucky kind of guy whose language consisted of explicit vocabulary and sarcasm. Loyalty and heart would describe him the best. But there were three things that ever got on his nerves. One; those miniature corns you find at cocktail parties, two; dogs (with a burning passion), and three; backstabbers. Inuyasha happened to remind him of all three…even the miniature corn. Kouga would definitely add Inuyasha's stupid laugh to his list as soon as he got home.

"Will someone shut this guy up?!" Kouga cried, slowly recovering from the shock of the situation…him getting punched by a girl that is.

Inuyasha only laughed harder as he grabbed his gut tight to suppress the pain.

"Look…I didn't…you shouldn't have…I just…umm…" Kagome stuttered, her eyes still locked on her closed fist.

Kouga's attention then shifted from Inuyasha to the blue eyed beauty. Apart of him couldn't believe she had just bruised his cheek with such a lovely hand. He had never met a girl quite like her. She seemed pale but that didn't take away from her flawless skin, silky hair and eyes that could have a guy on his knees, whimpering. If she thought punching him in the face would repulse him away, she had it backwards. Tall, beautiful, and has a mean left hook? That was Kouga's type of woman.

"You should be on your knees begging for forgiveness, you stupid bitch!" one of Kouga's boys cried out to Kagome.

The boy's name was Ginta. He was one of the most loyal of all of Kouga's 'followers'. Before Kouga, Ginta was a very shy and quite boy; a typical loner if you will. If someone were to offer his/her hand to pull you out of a teenage depression, you'd be very protective of that person too. Ginta couldn't believe that a mere girl was able to wound the almighty Kouga like she did. Kouga was everything to him; his best friend, his brother from another mother. He didn't care whether you were a crippled senior with an amputated leg and a brain tumor, anyone who messed with Kouga had to pay.

Before anyone knew what was going on, Ginta bolted in Kagome's direction with a metal brace around his knuckles.

"Ginta, stop you idiot! What the hell are you…?" Kouga began to yell in panic. Kouga was a mighty fast runner but no amount of speed would stop his friend from making a very big mistake.

It took a few seconds for Kagome to realize what was going on at that moment. Her heart literally stopped when she saw the boy only a few steps away with his fist clenched so tight that his knuckles turned white. Her body wouldn't move despite her brain screaming at her to respond. She was definitely in no condition to have anything smashed in her face in her situation. This was it. Just when she was set free from the hospital, she was going to be sent flying back in.

Punch!

The last thing Kagome remembered before she went out cold was a smell she found indescribable. It wasn't strong or weak, neither was it fruity or bold. The scent only comforted her and with that she knew that she would be okay.

_--_

"L-let go of my wrist!" Ginta stuttered frighteningly.

Inuyasha grunted a bit in pain although grabbing the boy's arm took away a lot of the punch's impact from his upper chest.

Kouga and the rest of the boys could only stare in bewilderment at the events that had just unfolded before them. Kouga couldn't help but feel a little jealous as he wasn't the one in the spot light who saved the day but was relieved that the asshole managed to protect Kagome in time. Inuyasha managed to jump in between the two just before Ginta swung his arm in Kagome's face. Unfortunately, the impact of Inuyasha getting hit caused him to back up towards Kagome, knocking her to the ground. But bumping her head on the grassy field was a better alternative than having a metal brace knocking all her teeth out.

"Punching a girl is a little low even for a pussy like you, don't cha think?" Inuyasha sneered as he panted from the pain, still gripping the petrified Ginta's scrawny wrist.

Ginta could only squirm in place, trying to release himself from Inuyasha's steel grip.

"That's enough Inuyasha." Kouga said as he walked towards the two.

Inuyasha only gave the scared boy a death glare before pushing him towards the ground.

"You're lucky the princess over there saved your sorry ass Inuyasha because you can be sure as hell that your ass is mine the next time we meet." Kouga continued.

Inuyasha only had enough energy to stick up his middle finger in response.

"Let's bounce." Kouga demanded with a snap and all the boys followed in his direction.

Inuyasha cringed at how queer Kouga's command had just sounded.

"Oh and tell the princess when she wakes up that she's my woman now." Kouga said with a grin as Inuyasha's eyes almost fell out of their sockets.

With that, Kouga and his crew were finally gone.

--

Before Inuyasha knew it, his legs gave way and he was sent with a thud to the ground. His body was exhausted even though he didn't want to admit it. Did he mention that he hated to lose? Fire swelled up inside him as his mind replayed the current events like one of those annoying slide shows in geography. His thoughts were broken when something soft tickled his arm. He turned his head to the side to see Kagome's unconscious body lay right beside him. Her long hair was stroking his scarred arm in the subtle evening breeze. Inuyasha unconsciously began to intensely stare at her dormant state. Who was this girl? She was so creepy, pale and annoying. Not to mention she had a mouth on her. Inuyasha automatically licked his chapped lips as his eyes focused on hers. She seemed familiar, but on the other hand Inuyasha knew he wouldn't forget a girl as fucked up as her. But for some reason, her current state made him image a small sad girl in a hospital bed.

Inuyasha sighed as he pushed a strand of his sliver hair away from his eyes. Now what? He couldn't just leave the brat lying on the field half dead. As much as he would have liked to just leave her where she lay, he owed her for such a good laugh. Out of all the years, never did he see Kouga so stunned. It was truly priceless. The velvet sky continued to darken as the sun was nearly set. Inuyasha crouched on his knees as he went forward to pick up sleeping beauty. After a few attempts, Inuyasha managed to get her lifeless form on his back and he began to walk out of the courtyard piggy backing the comatose girl.

The full moon sparkled from the center of the sky when Inuyasha finally made it to his destination. He didn't no where to take the girl accept for the place where they first met, the hospital. Now, it was only a matter of walking beyond the hospital park and parking lot and his troubles would be over. Problem was that he was extremely spent and craved for a cigarette. He entered the children's hospital park and laid Kagome on one of the benches. He plopped himself on the ground right in front of the wooden bench. He viciously searched for his lighter as he stuck a cancer stick in his mouth. When he finally got it lit, his body immediately relaxed as he leaned his sore back on the edge of the bench where Kagome's head rested above.

A few minutes later, Kagome awoke to the same sent that lingered in her senses before she went out cold. She struggled to open her heavy eyelids as the moon's light flooded her sight.

'I must have gone into another coma.' She grumpily thought as she didn't remember taking her medicine at the designated time.

When her eyes finally adjusted to the light the first thing she saw was a pile of sliver strands sitting directly in front of her. Curious and unaware where she was or what had happened she weakly stretched her arm to pull some of the sliver strands for a closer look.

"Ow!! What the…" Inuyasha yelled in reaction to the sudden pull of his hair. "Now I'm sure you've never heard of keeping your hands to yourself!" Inuyasha spat, quickly turning around to face the groggy Kagome while rubbing the top of his head.

Kagome only stared back at him in confusion with her glossy blue eyes. Inuyasha in return stared back with a puzzled face.

"What's with that look?" Inuyasha questioned.

Kagome only arose from her lying state to an upright position on the bench in response.

"Who are you?" Kagome asked in a daze.

Inuyasha slowly began to realize that bumping her head might have done more than just put her to sleep.

"I'm Britney Spears…who the held do you think I am stupid?"

"That might explain the long hair." Kagome innocently replied.

Inuyasha could only stare at her with a 'Why me lord?' expression in response.

One of their famous awkward silences occurred as Inuyasha took another drag of his cigarette.

Maybe it was the shadows that began to form around the park but Inuyasha couldn't help but notice Kagome's…well just Kagome in general. One think he noticed was her long slender legs. She was a pretty tall girl, almost reaching his height of 6'1. She seemed so different in the moonlight. She was so calm and peaceful and it showed in her face. Her hair cascaded around her face perfectly and her blue eyes seemed ten times more intense. That didn't change the fact that he thought she was some pasty weird chick but it was something to contemplate about as he inhaled more of the satisfying smoke.

"You okay?" Kagome said, breaking the silence.

"And what makes you think I'm not?" Inuyasha sneered back.

"I dunno. You seem to be thinking about something."

Inuyasha's arm twitched a bit as he hoped she hadn't just read his mind.

"Will you stop it already? Why the hell are you so fascinated with me?"

"What makes you think I'm fascinated in you?"

"Stop that! You and your stupid sarcasm need to leave me the fuck alone."

"Hey, no need to shout." Kagome replied nervously at his tone.

Inuyasha deeply sighed as he crushed the bud of his cigarette with his shoe.

"Look, it was cool that you exposed Kouga for the ass that he is and everything. I brought you to the stupid hospital so don't ya think we're even? So let's walk away from all this like we don't know each others names and move on."

"You don't like me very much do you." Kagome said with a pout.

"Well ding, ding, ding we have a winner! Give the girly applause folks!" Inuyasha said while loudly clapping his hands.

"I thought you didn't like sarcasm?" Kagome said in a teasing tone.

"Ugh, I give up!!"

Kagome truly didn't remember who she was talking to right now. Comas often do that. But she hoped that she'd regain her missing memory soon because somehow she knew that this boy was more then just a random acquaintance.

Inuyasha didn't know why she riled him up like she did but knew he couldn't stand it. He was done. He had done his good deed of the day and no longer needed to stay there and listen to the girl's crap. Everything she did made his skin crawl. She was like those never ending nightmares that resulted in the person moving into a psyche ward. But why couldn't he find himself to leave?

They could possibly make it into the Guinness Book of World Records with the number of awkward silences they shared on average.

The warm gentle breeze of the night soon made a u-turn to a brisk wind.

Oh how Inuyasha hated the cold. He couldn't even stand washing his hands in cold tap water let alone stand this wind. He really had to leave now but as he tried to pick himself off of the frigid ground a sharp pain jabbed into his left leg.

"Arggg…shit!!" Inuyasha moaned as he grabbed his left leg.

"You're definitely not okay now!" Kagome said in a panicked voice. "Where does it hurt?"

"Knee." Inuyasha swiftly answered trying not to focus on the extreme pain he felt.

"I'll go get a nurse." Kagome replied unsure of what to do.

"No!! I'm fine. It's probably just a spasm."

"A spasm?! Spasm or not your in pain and need to get that knee checked!"

"Shutup! I know my body better than some punk ass doctor."

"Why won't you let anyone help you!!"

"Keh, I don't need your help or anyone else's for that fuckin matter. No one bothered to help me out before so shutup with this help bullshit!!"

Kagome only stared at him in silence in response as she watched the pain stricken Inuyasha shiver in the cold.

Suddenly, Inuyasha began to laugh at the top of his lungs. "Where's the help, huh?! Where's the fuckin' help father, you fuckin' bastard!!"

Kagome could only watch him with sad eyes that did not express sympathy but felt his pain.

He cracked. He couldn't believe he cracked. His words echoed in the abyss of the night sky. He hadn't done that since he was a child. He always kept it to himself, the hatred he had for his father and ultimately the world. And he cracked in front of her too. Never did the word weak rip through his whole body than it did right now.

Inuyasha shivered even more when he finally calmed down. To his surprise, Kagome was still there watching his every move.

"Go Away. Please just…"

But before Inuyasha could finish, Kagome slipped down to the ground in front of him and wrapped her arms around him tightly.

Inuyasha froze as Kagome hugged him like her life depended on it.

"What are you doing?" Inuyasha said almost in a whimper.

"You looked like you needed a hug" She replied as she nuzzled her face in the nook of his shoulder.

The word hug was almost foreign to him. Last hug he ever received was from his father so he automatically stayed away from them.

Inuyasha couldn't help but blush a little as the heat of her body infused with his own. Boy, did this girl have major mood swings. He could have sworn that not long ago she had kicked him in the crotch. Yup, the girl was definitely not herself…or was she?

"Keh, do you even know who I am?" Inuyasha asked as to verify his theory.

"No" she mumbled in his shoulder.

Inuyasha slightly shivered at her lips teasing his shoulder as she spoke.

"Then you shouldn't go hugging people you don't know. I could kill you for all you know." Inuyasha calmly said in response.

It was no use. He wanted to snap at her, he wanted to push her away but the heat of her body against his own was addicting. Never had he felt so warm.

"Then I guess I'll have to take that risk." Kagome replied drowsily as she lifted her head from his shoulder to his face.

Inuyasha had never notice how blue her eyes were. They were so big, glossy, and bold. Okay, maybe Kouga's guys hit him a little too hard as well. What the hell was he doing, especially with her? He couldn't find himself to pull away. He felt so powerful with the warmth her body gave. All his wounds seemed to disappear with the contact of her skin against his. He was a man and the last time he checked a straight one at that. She was a girl, so he would just accept the fact that he was acting on hormonal instinct. That was a good enough excuse for him.

Inuyasha then surprised himself and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"You sure you wanna make that kinda bet?" he whispered playfully in her ear as he pulled her in closer for more heat.

"Yep, because that little boy in the hospital acted tough but wouldn't lay a finger on anyone unless he had too." She replied as she leaned the tip of her nose on to his.

Inuyasha was a bit confused with her remark but was way too deep in lust to make anything of it. Maybe she hadn't lost her memory.

The world seemed to stop as Inuyasha stared at her soft lips. Once again he automatically licked his own lips as he moved in to taste hers.

He was then suddenly stopped with the touch of a hot finger.

"I think it's you who doesn't know who I am." Kagome softly said having regained her memory a few minutes back.

"Does it matter?" Inuyasha replied in such a state of lust that Kagome slightly frowned.

She didn't want it to be like this. It wasn't her. She wouldn't take advantage of anyone neither would she want anyone to take advantage of her, even if it was _him_. But she was finding it so hard to resist him. Never was temptation so vicious. His scent was driving her insane. This was the smell they should be putting into Axe bottles. She didn't want to leave his arms and had to bite her tongue from leaning in and placing her lips on top of his.

Kagome quivered when Inuyasha placed his lips over the finger that stood between what he desired. The pain of his knee still coursed through his body but only seemed like a mild sting now.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome said in a daze.

Her voice made him shiver this time and that's when it hit him. He couldn't stand this girl because her very being made him feel weak. He couldn't believe how easily he had fallen into her trap. How could he be so blinded by her 'I care' act. She was just like the rest of them. She acted innocent enough but he knew her type all too well. It was shaping up to be the same situation he was in not to long ago. He slightly let a growl rip through his teeth but then held it back. He wouldn't tolerate being played like a fiddle twice. If she was so full of swift comebacks then he'd play it smooth and beat her at her own game. But he had to think of the perfect way to snap this girl into reality.

As he played with her finger with his tongue, he could feel the vibrations of her heart beat faster and stronger with every second against his chest. Inuyasha mentally grinned.

Bingo!

He would break her heart.

--

**A/N:** **I AM SO INCREDIBLY SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT. Once school started I was pushed face first into exams and I've already completed two weeks of semester two. **

**Kay, now it's time to clear up some of the medical terms in the first half of the fic. So it is revealed that Kagome has ****Follicular Lymphoma, which is a real type of cancer. It will be further explained in chapters to come but for those of you who want more information, there will be a link about the cancer on my profile. The reason I chose this cancer was because a big theme in my fic deals with Inuyasha's struggle to overcome weakness. The cancer attacks the body's immune system which determines our body's strength against sickness, etc. So I thought it was perfect seeing as Kagome will attempt to teach Inuyasha how to live and overcome weakness with her being a physically weak person herself. Ummm for those of you who do not know what an ECG monitor is, it is the machine that you see in medical dramas that has the zig zag pattern showing a persons heart beat and makes a beeping sound with every pump of the heart. It also goes flat line with a long continuous beep when a person's heart has stop beating. I just finished Biology (which didn't go so great) and wanted to share my knowledge in this fic. I'm really bad at explaining things so there will also be a link on my profile on the ECG monitor for anyone who didn't get my horrible description. **

**I****made this chapter extra long (although that is no excuse for the lack of update) for you guys. CRAZY how time speeds past you! Anyways, I was going to have a huge author's note about certain concepts in the fic but seeing as its 12:30 midnight, feel free to mail me with any questions. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

**Thanks again to all your reviews (and for sticking with me for this long). **

**Later Dayz.**


	6. The Unbreakable

**Punch!  
****By: ****MangoCandy64**

**--**

**  
Standard Disclaimer**  
**Warning: **Explicit language

**A/N: This is not a new chapter, I repeat, this is NOT a new chapter. I've been editing (just fixing grammar and spelling mistakes here and there. Story is EXACTLY the same) my whole story and accidently deleted this chapter so I'm putting it up again with the revisions.**

**Chapter 6: The Unbreakable**

_There's this famous Aesop fable about a fox and a crow. One day, a fox had stumbled across a crow that flew off with a piece of cheese in its beak and had settled on a branch of a tree. The fox who was very cunning and hungry for some cheese devised a plan to cheat the crow out of its cheesy snack. __"Good-day, Mistress Crow," the fox cried as he walked up to the foot of the tree. "Well, don't you look mighty fine today. Those feathers of yours are certainly doing you justice might I add. And those eyes! Why, I hear all the ravens go ga-ga over you each time I pass the farmer's fields. Why, I bet you've got the best voice of all the birds too! I bet even Simon Crowal would be speechless by your musical talent. Let me hear but one song from you that I may greet you as the Queen of Birds." The Crow who was blushing up a storm by now, lifted up her head and began to caw her best, but the moment she opened her mouth the piece of cheese fell to the ground, only to be snapped up by the sly Fox. "Thanks sucka!" said the fox as he snickered at the sadden crow while he munched on his cheese…_

…_well, the fable goes something like that. _

_Moral of the story is __**'do not trust flatters'.**_

Inuyasha's mind raced with different scenarios, each ending with a broken hearted Kagome. As he continued to tease her finger with his playful tongue, Kagome's blush brought a bit of colour to her ivory pale cheeks. The more she struggled to pull her finger out of his hot mouth, the more Inuyasha craved for the heat her body was producing between them. Not only did he intend to shatter the sick girl's heart but he planned to have some fun along the way.

Kagome's heart was beating so fast that it hurt for her to inhale. She had never felt anything so piping hot than their interlaced body heat which they emitted into the night air. His saliva burned the outer skin of her delicate finger. She was so transfixed on the sound of her own heart ringing in her ears that she almost didn't notice the look in Inuyasha's eyes. It was so demonic that it sent several shivers down her spine. His amber orbs shown so bright with wicked delight that she could've swore his eyes had taken the form of dancing flames.

Inuyasha finally released her finger with a smirk upon his face. He had figured it out. He had developed the perfect scheme to crush his prey in the palm of his hand. Kagome stared at him with questionable eyes as a small chuckle seeped through his lips. Introducing Inuyasha's Five Step Guide to Breaking a Teenage Heart. Feeling her heartbeat still hammering against his upper chest, Inuyasha was delighted to know that step one was already in progress.

Step 1: Flatter her heart.

But what the sly Inuyasha failed to account for was that Kagome was more than just your clueless crow. In this fable, the crow kept her cheese and taught the cunning fox a thing or two!

…

"Inuyasha?"

Her calling his name really did make his whole body quiver. Whether it was out of lust or disgust he still wasn't sure.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome whispered again.

They were still in each others arms on the cold playground floor. Inuyasha's eyes wavered for a second as he scanned her eyes for her intentions. When attempting to break a teenage heart, it is recommended that you try to read your victim's every move. But all Inuyasha could see were her endless blue eyes which he had momentarily drowned in. It was the sound of her soft voice that pulled him back to shore. He then gently lifted his hand towards her cheek and stoked it with the side of his thumb. He stroked it several times, back and forth, as if confirming that a blush had really stained her ghostly figure's pale skin. Kagome's eyes widen as his sudden actions sent her into a frozen state. He let out his second chuckle of the night and let his arm fall to his side. He then quickly ran his hand through his sliver locks and stood up. He inwardly whimpered as the warmth of her body was yanked away from his own. His upward position caused his left knee to pulse with pain but he managed to remain standing. He was on a mission and he wasn't going to let his fucked up knee stand in his way.

With his body heat quickly fading from her skin, Kagome still remained frozen on the ground. After she had regained some composure she angled her head to stare at him from below.

"Keh, who am I kidding. Look, if you ain't gunna check in with the hospital you should probably run home like a good little girl. Little girls like you shouldn't get wrapped up with guys like me, remember…unless…" Inuyasha said as he seductively emphasized the last word of his statement.

Kagome, who had never been flirted with (unless you count Mr. Takada, the senior patient in the fracture clinic), had no idea what to do in this situation. So she handled this act of teenage activity the only way she knew how which was to be herself.

"You're probably right. I mean, what was I thinking? Thanks for dropping me off here but I think I'll head home…" Kagome responded as she heaved her body off the playground floor. She knew she was already in some deep trouble for not returning to the hospital sooner but she couldn't let Inuyasha know that the hospital was her home, at least not yet.

Inuyasha couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had totally just given her an 'invitation' and she had swatted it like a fly. Could this girl really be so _inexperienced_ that she couldn't take a hint? Inuyasha watched in bewilderment as Kagome began to make her way out of the hospital park. He should have thought as much. How could someone of his caliber win over some freak? You'd think it be easy to catch pray that was inferior to you but no such luck. Just when Inuyasha had lost all hope, he was surprised when he saw Kagome's figure stand still a few centimeters away.

"…unless…" Kagome said with a playful raised eyebrow as she whipped her head over her shoulder. The motion caused the night's chilling breeze to hit Inuyasha with the scent of her luscious hair. Yup, she would definitely handle this situation as her playful, curious, and risk taking self.

'What a tricky little bitch!' he thought as his devilish eyes returned, ecstatic that his plan was still in running gear.

"Unless you would like to escort me on a little walk?" Inuyasha replied as he scanned her school uniform figure up and down. "But seeing as you're in such a weak condition, I understand if you decline my offer."

"I'm not the one with the knee injury, remember?" Kagome stated as her gaze shifted from his amber eyes to his knee.

In response, Inuyasha crouched on all fours on the ground. Kagome stared in confusion as his stance resembled that of a tiger ready to pounce on its prey. Before she knew what hit her, Inuyasha sprinted in her direction and landed in a squatted position underneath her kilt. Much to her protest, Inuyasha lifted Kagome upon his shoulders. Grabbing on to his neck for support, Kagome watched as he squatted up and down with her still on his back. After a few suicide exercises and breathless laughs, he let her slide down from his shoulders like a pole. The friction she made against his own back made Inuyasha flinch.

"You were saying?" Inuyasha said with a raised eyebrow once her feet had touched the ground.

"Let's go." Kagome said as she playfully rolled her eyes. She then grabbed on to his hand and led him out of the park.

--

_She was just like the rest of them. She acted innocent enough but he knew her type all too well. It was shaping up to be the same situation he was in not to long ago. He slightly let a growl slip through his teeth but then held it back. He wouldn't tolerate being played like a fiddle twice…_

_7 years ago._

"_Ring around the rosy…" a group of small girls chimed from the north side of the school playground._

_It was a bustling afternoon as the voices of small children filled the damp air. Recess time usually was the culprit of such excitement among the students of Ouran elementary. The small playground area encased boys playing soccer who dived into grass stains, hula hooping girls, wild gossip, hide and seek, flying basketballs, you name it!_

_Speaking about gossip…_

"_Did you hear about that little shit?" One young boy asked another in a squeaky tone._

"_Yeah, I heard his dad fell asleep and never woke up again!" The small boy replied to his friend._

"_Serves him right! Ms. Ikezawa always said that bad things happen to kids who bully others and don't eat their vegetables."_

_Both boys then automatically turned their attention to a silver haired boy that sat alone against the fence of the schoolyard. The boy sat with his knees wrapped around his arms as the soft breeze blew his bangs upon his face._

"_I bet he's not so tough now." The boy with the squeaky voice said with a wide smirk to his friend._

_At that moment, another soft breeze blew the sliver haired boy's bangs slightly off his face to reveal his sinister amber eyes that shot daggers at the boys who were gossiping about him just a few yards away. _

"_A pocket full of posies…" the girls giggled again._

"_AHHHH!! He's gunna kill us! Ms. Ikezawa!!" both boys screamed in unison. In mere seconds, the boys bolted back into the safety of the school. _

_It was usually at this point that Inuyasha would have himself a good laugh at such bumbling idiots but there was nothing to laugh about today. This had been going on all afternoon. From his little secluded area against the fence he could see all his pathetic classmates whisper about him as if he were some coven secret. He got stares from several students. Some of those glares expressed sympathy while others conveyed pure enjoyment but he wanted none of it. They were all just so pathetic. The sight of the many children laughing and playing with no care in the world made him sick and left an unpleasant taste in his mouth. Gossip; it was all such a waste of time. Why fool around when you could work on getting stronger. He knew they all stared at him for the same reason. It had been a few weeks since his father had actually died but it had only been announced to the school a few days ago. The attention he received for such a shameful event such as the death of his father made his blood boil. If only he could get rid of them all. _

"_Ashes, ashes…"_

_How dare they talk about him like they knew what he was all about. A slight growl escaped from the depths of the small boy. He clenched his knees closer to his chest to suppress the hatred rising inside of him. They were all so annoying. Like little followers of an ant colony. Running around in their little hill thinking that this is all there is to it in life. How he would love to kick them outside of this sheltered reality of there's and be the one to step on them like the ants they were. None of them knew who he was yet they all whispered his name in each others ears. None of them knew him. None of them understood him. None of them accept her._

"_We all fall down!"_

_BOOM_

_The crack of thunder sent the group of girls screaming as they sang the last bit of their rhyme. Drop by drop, the rain began to wash over the children in the schoolyard. And much to Inuyasha's enjoyment, one by one they disappeared into the doors of the school. The little sprinkling of rain began to fall into a heavy shower. Inuyasha remained in the same position against his fence as he sank his chin deeper in his knees. The rain washed over him as he felt a wave of numbness engulf his small body. It was better this way. No people, no voices just silence and peace. Although the rain pounding against his head brought him some comfort, he couldn't help but feel something was missing from his momentary bliss. _

"_INUYASHA!!" a voice screamed._

_Broken away from his frozen state, Inuyasha automatically lifted his chin from his knees to search for the voice who had summoned him._

_SLAP_

_It all happened so quickly. Before he could make out what had just happened, drops of hot rain fell across his stricken cheek._

"_Kikyo?" Inuyasha said in bewilderment as if not believing his only friend was standing above him._

"_Y-you were just gunna leave l-like that?! You were just gunna le-leave me like that?!" the little girl struggled to say between sobs._

_Inuyasha could never understand the feeling of completeness he felt whenever this bawling girl was in his presence. Knowing exactly what she was talking about the boy could only sigh as he began to explain. _

"_They said I had no choice. They said I'm only ten and that I'm not legally old enough to live on my own, so there making me move in with my uncle." Inuyasha replied._

_Inuyasha rubbed his rosy cheek to relieve some of the pain as he continued to explain why he had to leave the city. He watched as the young Kikyo tried her best to suppress her tears under the camouflage of the cool rain. He watched as she closed her eyes shut and clenched her hands into fists as she tried to lessen her sobs. At that moment, Inuyasha's amber eyes burned with so much concern for the small girl. Every tear made it harder for him to breath. The site of her like this ripped through his body making him feel sore inside. This was the only person who knew who Inuyasha Taisho was. It was with that reason that he promised he wouldn't let anything hurt her yet here he was making her cry like an unfed baby._

_Inuyasha finally stood up from his sitting position to stand in front of his best friend. He then reached inside his pocket to pull out a tiny piece of cloth._

"_Stop cryin' would ya! You look almost as pathetic as the girls in this school." Inuyasha said in a caring tone as he threw the cloth softly upon her face._

_Kikyo quickly wiped the tears from her face embarrassed that he had caught her crying through the rain. She then threw the hanky back in his face and looked stubbornly to the side._

"_Don't get me wrong.__ I wasn't crying for you. I was crying because I care. And because I thought you would leave without returning my Spice Girls CD."_

_Inuyasha could only roll his eyes with a smirk. He was glad that she was back to her old Kikyo self. _

_Kikyo then turned her head to face him. Even though she was soaking to the bone she was still incredibly pretty. Her long ebony hair stuck to the sides of her fair skin which were covered in goose bumps. Her wet bangs tried to conceal her eyes but her big glowing hazel orbs shown through. As they continued to aimlessly stare into each others eyes, Inuyasha was surprised to see that hers were once again covered in a thin layer of gloss. _

"_So is this the last time I'll ever see you?" she choked._

_He watched as her fragile body shivered in the rain as her eyes began to leak again with hot tears._

_His heart began to pang again. He couldn't explain why he felt the urge to make her smile at any means possible but he knew he had too. He continued to stare at his best friend with affectionate eyes. Unaware to Inuyasha himself, the unbreakable friendship he shared with the girl that stood before him would soon amount to so much more. As his heart continued to swell, something unfamiliar infused itself into his whole being. And whether he was aware of it or not, Inuyasha had fallen in love. _

_Kikyo slightly blushed as Inuyasha just stare at her with a small grin._

_He then took a step toward her and wrapped his arms around her slender shoulders._

_He then dug his face into the nape of her neck and hugged her a little tighter. Kikyo then heard a small muffle come from her neck. She blinked a couple of times through her tears as she strained to hear his voice over the pitter-patter of the rain._

"_Stop crying. You look like an idiot." he breathed._

_Kikyo couldn't help but smile as she hugged her best friend back. This was defiantly not the last she would see of him. _

--

The ominous moon slept in the depths of the dark rich clouds which prevented the earth to bask in its shimmering moonlight. Inuyasha and Kagome continued to stroll in the darkness in silence. It had been thirty minutes or so since their departure from the hospital park grounds. They walked aimlessly in a small forest, neither of them not sure where they were headed.

Kagome's pace began to slow down as the night grew old. She could feel her body reacting to the cancer that infected it. She knew that she was in no condition for a midnight stroll but her heart told her otherwise. Never had she been able to just venture outside the walls of the hospital to explore the world around her. To hear small rodents dance around the foliage she maneuvered in and to breath in what a September night smells like, was better than any gift she had ever received. And to be on a walk with _him_. The very person who once long ago taught her that life is what you make of it. It was him that kept her eyes lids from closing shut. She hardly knew him yet she felt they were exactly alike. She really wanted to get to know her savior and thank him before her clock stopped ticking. To think that a girl who knew nothing about high school life could pull off the perfect 'sneaking out' soiree with a boy.

Inuyasha's mind raced as he tried to come up with the perfect plan of attack to set step two into motion.

Step 2: Make her sweat.

Inuyasha couldn't help but watch her from the corner of his eye. Her skin had a freakish glow under the dim light of the night's sky. She seemed to struggle to keep pace with him as they walked deeper into the forest. Her eyes were still big and glossy and bluer than ever which sparked his heart from time to time. This was stupid. There was not even the slightest possibility that he was attracted to…to that. She just happened to be a girl and the night air made him kind of horny. Still, he admitted that she was posing as a distraction from his diabolic sick thoughts. As he continued to regain focus in his mind, he felt something scrawny grab his hand from behind.

"Where are you off to in such a hurry? Let's take a break." her voice cooed in his ear.

Inuyasha couldn't help but shiver. Whether it was because her actions were almost ghost like or that her velvet whisper in his ear just turned him on, he wasn't entirely sure. He wasn't entirely sure of anything these days.

Inuyasha turned around to already see Kagome sitting on the slightly damp grass. She seemed to be panting a bit as she stretched her legs in front of her. This motion caused her kilt to ride up against her thighs, making her legs look incredibly long. Like that, a little light bulb went off inside of Inuyasha's head.

'This could possibly work in my favor.' He thought as he took a seat beside her.

"Something on your mind? You've been awfully quiet." Kagome questioned when he was finally seated on the grass.

If only she knew.

"Keh, you're not one to talk. You weren't exactly Ms. Chatterbox on the walk."

"That's because I had something on my mind." she replied with a tiny grin.

Inuyasha only huffed.

'She really is a tricky one.' Inuyasha concluded in his thoughts as his heartbeat went up a notch.

As she twirled blades of grass around her finger, Inuyasha quickly went back on task.

"Let's play a game."

Kagome stared at him with a bit of confusion in her eyes. Inuyasha made a toothy grin.

"I'm really not the gamer type. What did you have in mind?" she replied.

"Truth or Dare."

Kagome really didn't like the sound of that one.

Inuyasha chuckled.

"You look a little scared? Can't you handle it princess?" Inuyasha said with a raised eyebrow.

Kagome really detested anyone who called her princess. It was defiantly not the right adjective to describe her. Plus, she never understood why it was the princess who was always the helpless girl waiting to be saved. She'd rather rescue herself thank you very much.

"Oh, I can handle it alright! Let the best _princess_ win!" she retorted with a bit of edge in her voice.

Inuyasha was skeptical at first but was relieved when she took the bait. This was going to be fun.

"Ladies first." He told her. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Soft! You're just a little pansy aren't you? Sure you don't wanna change your mind?"

Inuyasha secretly tried to persuade her to choose dare. If he was going to have any fun watching her sweat he needed her to nibble on the bait a little more.

"Just ask your question."

Well, he had other ways to make her squirm.

"Are you a virgin?" he asked.

Kagome instinctively turn a light scarlet as the question took her off guard.

"Wouldn't you like to know." She replied. She wasn't too embarrassed to not answer his question with her undeniable spunk.

"Is that a yes?" he teased her.

"If you already know the answer, stop asking me." She said a bit redder than before. She couldn't even look him in the face at this point.

Inuyasha darkly laughed as she turned her head away from him. Things were going according to plan.

"Truth or dare?" Kagome finally asked as she recovered.

"Do you even have to ask? Dare."

Kagome had plans of her own. She was going to get to know Inuyasha better whether he liked it or not but it didn't help if all he chose was dare.

"I dare you to tell me your biggest fear."

"What the fuck? That's not a dare! You're twisting things around to make me do truth!" Inuyasha accused her aggravated.

"What, can't you handle it princess?" Kagome replied with a smirk.

She got him there.

Inuyasha sighed. He had to play along or he wouldn't be able to get on with his plan. He had to think of what to say. Should he really just tell her the truth? He couldn't think of a convincing enough lie and sighed in frustration as he began to answer her 'dare'.

"Losing."

"What?" Kagome asked startled that he actually answered.

"I'm afraid of losing to anyone. I refuse to lose to anyone. To lose is to be too weak to defeat the strong and that's why I can't lose."

Kagome only stared in awe as he answered. This is what the infamous Inuyasha feared.

"But sometimes losing is the very thing that makes someone stronger. Strength is not always measured in how many people you defeat but how many losses you can overcome."

Inuyasha could only blink at her blankly as she spoke. Why was she speaking to him like she even had a clue of what strength was? Here was a girl who could barely keep up on a walk let alone should she be lecturing him on the 'true' meaning of strength. Her cutesy act was wearing off thin and he was now royally pissed. He had to bite his tongue from lashing out on her. He would just have to let out his rage in other ways. He wasn't going to let her get the best of him. He hated to lose and that was the truth.

"Truth or dare." he seethed through his teeth.

Kagome automatically sensed the new found hostility in his voice but chose to ignore it. She was just too happy that Inuyasha was capable of telling her something that didn't involve an insult. One reward deserved another.

"Dare." She replied.

No more games. Inuyasha mentally grinned through his rage. He would seize the opportunity he had been waiting for all night and commence step two. And with the fire that swelled inside him at the moment, he was definitely not going to hold back.

"Close your eyes until I tell you to open them." He told her.

Kagome was skeptical about his request and it showed on her face.

"What kind of dare is close…"

But before she could finish her sentence, Inuyasha covered her face with one of his big hands.

"If you're backing out, then I guess I win otherwise close your eyes."

'…and your mouth.' He mentally stated after his comment.

Fortunately for Inuyasha, Kagome was the competitive type so she slowly closed her lids shut behind his hands. Inuyasha then removed his hands from her face. Staring back at him was sleeping beauty herself. Her long ebony hair danced in the cool breeze in contrast with her pale skin. She sat on her knees with her hands in her lap as Inuyasha watched her chest expand and then detract from her breathing. She waited peacefully with her eyes closed for the dare to proceed.

Inuyasha's attention was then pulled to the nape of her neck. The wind revealed more of the raw piece of flesh as it blew her hair over her shoulder. He continued to look venomously at her neck as he came into closer contact with Kagome. Kagome's hand twitched when she felt something warm graze its side. Inuyasha's eyes stared hungrily at her neck as if he were a vampire staring at his prey. His face held a stony expression as he brushed away some of her stray hairs off her neck. He felt Kagome's heartbeat climb as he inched closer to his target. Inuyasha leaned forward to caress the side of her neck with his nose. Her scent burned the tip of his nose as he deeply inhaled. He then shut his eyes and hungrily sucked at the nape of her neck. Kagome let out a smothered gasp as the action sent shivers throughout her frail body. Inuyasha continued to devour the side of her neck. With every suck at her flesh he let out his frustrations at her. His hot tongue ran along her skin making sure it made contact with every contour of her neck. Kagome couldn't help but tilt her head to the side to allow him to gather more range with his tongue. Inuyasha quickly took this invitation to his advantage. He slowly pushed her on her back and pinned her shoulders down. He made sure she wouldn't be able to move until he was completely satisfied. He lightly tugged at her neck with his teeth feeling the need to devour her. He then licked over his bite marks which burned her skin. Kagome let out a small moan as his actions began to quicken furiously. He let his anger take over as he greedily continued to suck at her flesh. With his body over top of hers, he made sure not to put his full weight on her but tried to grind his body as close to her body as possible. The sound of his lips smacking against her neck made him hungry for more. When he was just about satisfied, he continuously began to suck on his favourite part on her neck. He then finally released his lips off her skin and stared at his work which quickly turned a bright red. He then gently blew over the hot hickey that developed on her neck. Kagome's body was a wreck as it shuddered in reaction to his breath hitting her naked skin. The sound of them panting was the only noise that filled the night air. Inuyasha then inched his mouth to her ear.

"Open."

Kagome slowly opened her eyes. Her glossy blue orbs were in utter shock. She stared deeply into Inuyasha's golden orbs trying to find out what that was all about. His eyes just danced demonically in their sockets. She could tell simply by the look in his eyes that he was up to no good. Her eyes in return seemed to stare back in disappointment. She still had a lot to learn about Inuyasha.

"I think I should go." Kagome said breaking the silence.

Kagome then slid from underneath him still panting. Inuyasha sat in an upward position looking a little dazed. He could definitely check step two off his list but something wasn't right. He still craved her. Her scent still burned his nose.

'Damn it!' his thoughts screamed.

Why did he enjoy that? It wasn't supposed to make him feel that good. He should just chuck this girl out of his life now before it got worst but, god did he absolutely hate to lose.

Kagome then got up and dusted the dirt off her plaid kilt. She then began to find her way out of the forest.

It was the sound of her footsteps that shook Inuyasha back into reality.

"Wait! Where are you going? So you're just gunna wooss out on me, just like that, because you can't take one little dare?" he called out to her.

"Inuyasha, it's not like that…" Kagome began to explain exasperated.

"No, I think it's exactly like that! I don't understand you freakin' people! Can't any of you grow some fuckin' balls? Do me a favor and next time, don't go around acting like some hot shot and waste other people's time!" Inuyasha spat as he got up to catch up with her.

At that moment the distance sound of a train filled the night air. Anyone could put on a brave face but being brave was more than just performing a trivial dare. Kagome didn't know how to get through to him but knew she still had to try. Without answering his comment she began to walk deeper into the forest.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going??" Inuyasha yelled as he quickly followed her.

They walked in the darkness for a few minutes. The moon finally shook the clouds away and shown dead center in a starless sky. The sound of a train tooting its horn became louder in the silence of the night. Inuyasha and Kagome finally stumbled upon some train tracks. Inuyasha, who was confused on why he had followed her to the middle of no where, broke their silence.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Where are we?" He looked around unaware of his surroundings.

Kagome then took a deep breath and finally looked at Inuyasha directly in the face. He had noticed the effort she put in trying to avert his gaze since the 'truth or dare' incident as they walked, so this came as a surprise.

"I'm going to prove to you that I'm not as pussy as you think I am!" She spoke with clear determination embedded in her voice.

Inuyasha blinked a couple times in shock. It was the first time Inuyasha heard anything vulgar come out of her mouth.

Kagome sighed. She hated using such slang but if she was going to get through to him she had to speak his language.

Kagome then walked towards the huge train tracks. She looked both ways on either sides of the track and then stepped inside them. The tooting of a train was ringing in both their ears as they saw a train racing towards them in the distance.

"What do you think you're doing?" Inuyasha said causally.

"I'm not going to move out of the train's way until you realize that I do have some effin' balls!" Kagome replied.

"No need to sweetheart! I knew you owned a pair from the start." Inuyasha said with a smirk.

Kagome ignored his insult as she positioned herself to face the train that was barreling towards her at top speed. The train tooted its horn once more as it came closer.

"Don't expect me to save you when you realize that this little stunt has no effect on me." Inuyasha said in a loud voice as the sound of train became louder.

Kagome just stared at the train in front of her.

Inuyasha could feel the ground underneath his shoes vibrate as the train continued to race down the tracks. Inuyasha folded his arms together as he stared at Kagome's profile from the tracks.

"This is so stupid!" He yelled with a bit of panic. She still didn't reply. He then began to impatiently tap his foot on the dusty ground.

The lights of the freight train suddenly hit them. The train was getting so close that Inuyasha could almost feel the heat emitting from its chimney. The wind the train created caused Kagome's kilt to flutter furiously in the air but she still stood in a firm position staring down the train.

Inuyasha's heart began to race when the train was just a few meters away.

"What the hell are you trying to prove? You don't need to stand on the tracks to know that a train can crush you!" Inuyasha continued to yell in panic over the sound of wheels hitting steal.

Kagome closed her eyes as she felt the sudden speed of the train race towards her. She then spread her arms wide open as if to welcome the train with a bear hug.

"Okay, I get it! You're not a wooss and you have pretty hefty balls so get off the tracks stupid!" he cried.

The train was zeroing in on target. It was only a matter of minutes now before Inuyasha would witness Kagome's delicate body smashed all over the hood of a train.

Inuyasha's heart rang in his ears as he clenched his fists. He watched as Kagome's hair danced in the wind. The train tooted its horn once more as Inuyasha tightly shut his eyes.

"Idiot!"

Inuyasha shot his eyes open then bolted toward the direction of Kagome on the tracks. He then dove into her just as the train slid right past where she was standing. The two of them tumbled to the ground as Inuyasha violently rolled down a hill with Kagome in his arms. The sound of the train barreling past them still rung in their ears as they rolled down the hill. When they nearly stopped rolling at the foot of the hill, Inuyasha could hear a laugh fill the air. He opened his eyes to see Kagome laughing underneath his arms. Her mouth was wide open as she gasped for air through her fit of laugher. Inuyasha furiously let go of her small figure and slowly stood up. He rubbed his swore head as he stared at her still laughing on the grass.

"What the fuck is so funny?? If they wouldn't automatically assume that I pushed your ass into the train, you would be splatter all over some windshield!!" Inuyasha angrily yelled.

"Sorry, I've just never had so much fun before!" Kagome replied still laughing while holding her gut to suppress the pain.

"Fun? Fun!! It wouldn't be so _fun_ if I didn't decide to safe your sorry ass!" Inuyasha retorted.

Kagome then tried her best to get up from the grassy field. She unsteadily made her way to Inuyasha with a goofy smile still plastered on her face.

"I knew you would save me Inuyasha. There was no doubt in my mind!"

"Are you trying to sell to me that you're some fuckin' psychic?" Inuyasha asked as he continued to rub at his sore head.

"No. What I'm saying is that I know a good man when I see one." Kagome replied in a daze as she drowsily poked him in the heart.

Inuyasha couldn't believe this girl. Did she really have so much faith in him as to risk her life? They've only known each other for a day and a half for crying out loud. But Inuyasha had to admit that she wasn't as pathetic as he first thought.

"You're fuckin' crazy! I might suffer from a concussion tonight thanks to your 'prediction'."

Kagome only walked closer towards him. She then stared at him straight in his eyes. Her blue orbs fought in contrast with his amber ones. She stood at her full height still a little unsteady on her feet before replying to his comment.

"Suck it up _princess_!"

And with that, she collapsed into his arms. Her disease finally caught up with her as she lay unconscious in Inuyasha's arms. Inuyasha let out a huge sigh as he hoisted her on to his back and began his way out of the forest. His mind raced with the day's events. From Kouga to tonight's little rendezvous, he felt a bit frustrated as he couldn't wrap his mind around this girl. She had him surprised at every turn. Although his plan was in full swing he couldn't help but feel that it was impossible to break something as solid as this innocent girl's heart.

They were tricky, they were innocent, and if you weren't careful they could eat you alive. Yup, he knew her type all to well. She was an Unbreakable. But Inuyasha was confident that he was still on top of his game. With first hand experience he knew the first rule any man should know when dealing with someone of this type.

Rule #1: The Unbreakable's can always be broken.

--

**A/N: Well there you have it folks! **_**Punch!**_** is back in business after a four month hiatus! I usually have chapters up sooner but I had my first case of writer's block. I would just like to apologize for any grammar and/or spelling mistakes in advance. I tried my best to revise the chapter but I anxiously wanted to put it up. Some info on the actual fable used in the beginning of the chapter will be posted on my profile. And for any of you who are wanting to know the status of my fic, please refer to my profile as it will keep you updated even through future hiatuses (which I hope will not be the case!) **

**I wasn't too happy with this chapter but I think its growing on me. I had so many different ideas for this chapter so I apologize if it seems a bit all over the place. Inuyasha's history with Kikyo will be further explained in future chapters. Just as a little spoiler, look out for Naraku and some other Inuyasha characters to come in up coming chapters. Thanks to all the reviews as it really helps me move forward with the fic. Like always, feel free to mail me with any questions or concerns or even just to chat (I love making new friends D). Also keep an eye on future author's notes as I might put up a pic of a character from Punch! on deviantart. To check out my DA account, I will post it on my profile. I'm not really an artist, I just got a account to favorite pictures but I do got a few sketches posted up. If any of you possess a DA account don't hesitate to befriend me (I currently have no friends ( ) Whoa, that sounded really emo. lol Anyways I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

**Later Dayz.**

**PS. Hope everyone is having an AWESOME summer! Yay summer!! XD**


	7. Bejeweled

**Punch!  
****By: ****MangoCandy64**

**--**

**  
Standard Disclaimer**  
**Warning: **Explicit language

**Chapter 7: Bejeweled**

Sango sighed as she aimlessly stared at the numerous doodles that now occupied the first page of her brand new agenda. She then flipped the page to the September calendar where she drew a nice thick X over the box that contained the current date. It was officially day two of the brand new school year. Bored and cranky due to the fact that Kohaku had split a fair amount of OJ on her kilt this morning, Sango observed the noisy classroom from the safety of her desk which never hesitated to fill the air with gossip and unknown projectiles. As she occupied her time with fidgeting in her seat, she watched as the minute hand of the classroom clock slowly inch its way to the large six. At that moment, the bell rang notifying students that class would soon commence. Sango could only slump her head onto her desk as she watched her homeroom teacher enter the class with dread. She stared at the clock again only to have it mock back the time of eight thirty AM. As one of the unknown projectiles landed in her slightly frizzy hair she could only shut her eyes in defeat.

Ah yes, it was definitely going to be one of _those _days.

"Okay everyone, if you can all take your seats as class is about to begin. I would like everyone to take out their textbooks and flip to page eleven. The first chapter we will explore is on the Feudal Era. Feel free to flip through the rest of the textbook as I take attendance." Ms. Tanaka announced to her class as she took her seat at the front desk.

As the students obediently followed her orders in a hushed whisper, the door was suddenly slammed open causing half of the students to jump out of their seats. Sango only sat up in confusion wondering if class had magically ended while she power napped.

"Did somebody say attendance!?" The overly cheerful voiced boomed from the door.

Ms. Tanaka could only sigh in frustration as her head made its way to lie on her own desk.

"How many TIMES must I tell you Mr. Hoshi to wait OUTSIDE for the attendance?" Ms. Tanaka managed to say through clenched teeth.

"But if I had listened I wouldn't be able to hear your beautiful voice sing me those words every time I stepped in your class defying your request!" Miroku pouted with fake tears in his eyes.

'I swear, they don't pay me enough…' Ms. Tanaka's thoughts screamed as she ignored the student's advances and continued taking attendance.

Miroku smiled deviously as Ms. Tanaka's silence claimed his victory. He leaned against the door as he patiently waited for his _favourite_ teacher to finish taking attendance, watching the movements of her arm slightly jiggle her chest. It was only when he noticed she was wearing a cute white blouse with blue stripes that Miroku's smile had grew tenfold. If "What is Miroku's favourite colour?" ever ended up as a question on some old re-run of _Who Wants to Be a Millionaire _twenty years from now, anyone who knew Miroku would answer white without a fleeting thought. Some might argue that white is better classified as a shade than a colour but all Miroku knew was that white was the greatest invention ever especially on a rainy day like today.

Now, if only he could get Sango to wear more white.

As Ms. Tanaka put down her pencil, Miroku was by her desk in a heartbeat. She lifted the completed attendance to Miroku's face and stared in his opposite direction for his safety, thinking that she wouldn't be held responsible for her actions if his conniving little face provoked her anymore than it already did.

With a toothy grin, Miroku gently took the attendance sheet making sure to graze his hand against her own as he did. As the contact of their skin caused immediate irritation to flood her facial features, Ms. Tanaka swiftly turned to face the troublesome student only to have him a mere two inches from her face. The class stared in horror as they attentively watched the events that were being unfolded before them. This was ten times better than any gossip that was circulating in the classroom at the moment.

Miroku raised a playful eyebrow as he watched Ms. Tanaka's expression turn from a heated hatred to an utter surprise as a soft red began to dust the apples of her cheeks.

Miroku chuckled a bit before cupping the young teacher's chin in his free hand.

"You should see how your blush brightens up your beautiful face Ayako." Miroku slightly whispered in her ear with a sincere grin growing on his face.

Mouths drop as an 'Oh no, he didn't!' was heard from the audience as a response to hearing the ever so bold student address their sensei by her first name.

Stunned, Ms. Tanaka could only stare at Miroku with her own mouth dropped, too infuriated to do anything but turn a deeper red. Her eyes widened in terror as she noticed that the boy began to lean in closer towards her face.

'Why didn't I listen to mother and become a dentist?' Ayako thought as she mentally screamed for help.

This was it. This was what Miroku had been waiting for. No longer would he have to fantasize what the lips of an older woman would taste like. His heart began to race as she didn't seem to move as he leaned in closer. He slowly closed his eyes and protruded his lips excessively as he heard the bodies of every single student lean over their desk for a better view. It was only a matter of seconds before everyone in school would know his name. He'd be a legend to the male population. There wouldn't be a single living organism in Joshibi Academy from this day on who wouldn't turn their heads and ask themselves, 'Hey isn't that…'

"HOSHI!!" a piercing growl echoed through the room, demolishing every thinking thought the boy possessed.

But before the poor flirt could open his eyes to see what was going on, his head was already the victim of a straight forward collusion with a three pound history textbook.

As Miroku fell with a thud onto the floor, the whole class, including Ms. Tanaka herself, slowly turned their heads to see where the flying textbook had come from. Sango was standing from her seat, panting from the force she had used to throw the oversized history textbook across the room. A girl suddenly broke down in tears when she witnessed the murderous gaze that had formed on Sango's face.

Finally pulling herself together, Ms. Tanaka managed to clear her dry throat before addressing the situation at hand.

"Sango, I must advise that you please refrain from throwing excessively large books at this student…" she said kicking him in the ribs as she continued. "…besides, I believe the steel stool in the corner over there is much more suitable." She said with a vile poison in her tone.

Another student broke into tears…this time a boy.

When Miroku finally awoke from his unconsciousness, he immediately rubbed the front of his head where it had already begun to swell. He was also introduced to a new pain developing right below his rib cage. Had Sango been able to hit two birds with one stone?

When he found enough strength to stand on his own two feet and open his eyes, instant fear froze him into place. Three feet away was the most frightening looking Sango he had ever seen with a steel stool ready to be launched with his name on it…no really, it had his name on it!

Sango's hazel eyes burned through his shirt as he noticed her gaze beginning to sink. She then gave him a wicked smile when her eyes stopped, finally locking on target. Miroku instantly mumbled something along the lines of a prayer as he automatically cupped his manhood in protection. Sango then tighten her grip on the stool. At this point, all the male students had assembled into a lock down procedure in the classroom.

Sango hissed, "I'm giving you a three second head start, Hoshi! One…"

Miroku was out the door before she even began to count.

…

After a visit from the guidance councilor and several tears later, the classroom sat in a low hush as Ms. Tanaka finally resumed with her lesson.

"Today we will be venturing into the Sengoku Jidai which took place during the Muromachi period around 1467-1568 A.D. Please refer to page eleven as we explore this era throughout the lesson."

Sango slumped her head lower on her desk as she unwilling flipped the pages of her blood stained textbook. It was hard chasing Miroku with the steel stool so she resorted back to the good old fashion textbook. She soon learned that it was just as effective as any stool when used properly. When Sango reached the assigned page, Ms. Tanaka continued on with her lesson.

"Sengoku Jidai, which is also known as the Warring States era, is widely known for powerful warlords that fought battles for land and power. During this semester, we will explore the many battles that took place and study many important war figures of this time. So everyone should be prepared for long lectures and essays in the future of this unit."

The quiet classroom was soon filled with frustrated sighs and "boos" from every direction. Ms. Tanaka slammed the drawer of her desk shut in an effort to regain back the attention of her students. The class fell to a dull roar. She then walked toward the nearest student and began handing out worksheets to the class.

"I am certainly aware of how tedious this unit will be so I decided to start the chapter with something a little more interesting." She declared over the many whispering voices.

When the handout finally reached Sango's sleeping form, she unwillingly opened her eyes to see a beautiful rose coloured jewel stare back at her from the sheet. Sango sat up a bit as she scanned the paper over. The heading of the handout caught her attention as she unconsciously read the bolded words aloud.

"The Shikon no Tama?" she questioned to herself.

"Yes, The Shikon no Tama is an infamous myth that had originated from the Feudal era." Ms. Tanaka continued.

Suddenly a high pitch scream filled the room.

'Ugh, what now!?' Ms. Tanaka thought as she massaged the sides of her head lightly.

Sango knew there was only one person capable of a scream that sounded only of ear-shattering excitement rather than fear. The class turned to see Ayame out of her seat with her eyes glossed over with pure joy. With all that had happened this morning, Sango barely noticed Ayame's presence until now. With that kind of scream, she couldn't see why.

"No way, no way, NO WAY!! We're going to learn about the legend of the Jewel of Four Souls??" Ayame spat in a single breath.

"Whoa, I'm impressed that you know the English translation, Ayame. Not many people are familiar with this ancient Japanese legend although it is one that has lingered on for centuries." Ms. Tanaka said in genuine surprise.

"Know it? It's my favourite bedtime story! My only wish is that it was true." Ayame replied with a pout.

"Why don't you share the legend with the class then? I'm sure it would be a lot more entertaining if told by a classmate." Ms. Tanaka offered.

A wicked smile was suddenly placed on Ayame's face as the rest of the class shook their heads at their teacher's assumption in fear.

"Oh, no." Sango cursed under her breath but it was already too late.

In mere seconds, the classroom was pitch black as construction noises could be heard within the darkness. After a few minutes, a small light flickered at the front of the classroom. The light, from what seemed to illuminate from a sliver flashlight, lit the dark room and shone brightly under Ayame's chin. The class stared in awe as the classroom had been transformed to a night's sky filled with many twinkling glow in the dark stars. Suddenly a 'click' from a CD player was heard and a peaceful melody filled the classroom, er, I mean night air. Ayame giggled a bit before she began.

"The Shikon no Tama isn't just some old man's legend but the beginning of a feudal fairytale! There was a time when ogres, dragons, and other demons merged their bodies together to wage a battle. They fought against one powerful human; a priestess who lived many centuries ago. The court nobles controlled the country at that time. Wars and fathoms dragged on and on. Countless people perished. Demons devoured the dead and the near dead and they were able to grow in great numbers. Many priests and warriors set out to slay them, but only one priestess, known as Midoriko, was able to purify demon's souls and render them harmless. She was considered the most powerful human of her time. In her world, humans, animals, trees, even stones were all created through the four souls. The fours souls are called: Aramitama (Courage) Nigimitama (Friendship), Kushimitama (Wisdom), and Sakimitama (Love).

When they are combined they become the soul of one person housed inside the heart. When the four souls or spirits work together in harmony, it is call Naobi and the human heart is filled with goodness. When somebody does a bad deed the four souls energize evil and the human loses his way. In other words, a soul can turn good or bad. This transformation can happen within a human soul or demon soul. This is why Midoriko was a formative foe towards the demons. Because she was able to purify their souls and make them powerless, but she has not lost the battle yet.

After battling for seven days and seven nights a demon got it's fangs into Midoriko. With her last ounce of energy she reached deep within her own body for strength and ceased the demon soul. But in doing so, she forced out her own soul. What flew out of her was in fact the shikon jewel. She wasn't able to purify the demon's soul. All she could do was to cease and imprison it within herself. Although the flesh was gone, inside the sacred jewel a battle still wages between Midoriko and the demons…"

Every student in the room was transfixed on the mystical story Ayame told. Even Sango had to admit that the legend was pretty magical considering how serious Ayame was when she told it.

"If you think that's cool, wait until you hear the love story revolving around the jewel, a miko and a half-de…MISS?!" Ayame cried to Ms. Tanaka as she flicked the switch of the classroom lights on.

"That's enough Ayame. You've highlighted the main points of the legend. Everyone, back to your seats!"

Everyone was a little surprised to see that they were no longer in their seats but rather on the floor and only a few inches away from where Ayame sat on the edge of the teacher's desk, telling her story.

"But I was just getting to the tragic love story of two star-crossed lovers, not to mention the girl who transcends time and steals the dead miko's man and…" Ayame whined.

"Ayame, this is all myth remember?" Ms. Tanaka reminded her before addressing the class.

"Although the story behind the jewel is only pure myth, the jewel itself is known to actually exist! In the legend, it is said that at one point the jewel was broken into shards and casted all over the land. Even though the jewel was now in pieces, it was said that a single shard of the shikon no tama possessed the same amount of power as the whole jewel itself. Although the shikon no tama having some sort of mystical power is just another myth, shards of the mysterious jewel were being discovered throughout time. The properties of the jewel are tremendous. It is said to be harder than any diamond, having a hardness one hundred times higher than a 10.0 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness. It is also consider more valuable than any of the four precious stones; ruby, sapphire, emerald, and diamond. Many fought to obtain this mesmerizing gem causing great turmoil throughout the land. Many say that the Sengoku Jidai itself ignited by the conflict in which this jewel inflicted on society. Although the jewel is no where to be found it is believed that three shards still exist on earth today, one of those shards possibly still in its home country of Japan. However, if this proves to be true, the jewel is of so much value that great chaos could erupt. In a way the jewel does have a power for if it were placed in the wrong hands a great war would without a doubt unfold."

…

The rest of the morning flew by in a blur as the legend from history class consumed all the inner thoughts of Sango's mind. It was now lunch time, her favorite subject, but the legend of the Jewel of Four Souls had her day dreaming. How could one rock possibly affect an entire nation?

"Sango? Your sandwich is getting cold." Ayame pointed out as they sat at the greasy lunch table.

Sango could only roll her eyes at Ayame's statement. Shuffling in her ketchup stained seat was when Sango was reminded why she'd always make an extreme effort to avoid eating in the cafeteria at all times, but it had been pouring all day so she had to resort to roughing it.

"Hey, sis…I mean, Sango!" A voice cried out to the duo.

Sango whipped her head around to see Kohaku running towards them. When he reached their sitting area, Kohaku was confused at the amount of empty space surrounding them.

"Where's Miroku today?" he questioned a little bit frighten.

"Oooo I know this one! He was escorted to the hospital this morning!" Ayame answered with too much enthusiasm in her voice as usual.

Kohaku cupped himself in fear as he stared at his sister. 'I always knew he was a dead man.' Kohaku commented to himself.

"WAHhhhh!"

"Ay-Ayame what's the matter? Why are you crying?" Kohaku asked in surprise as tears began to form in Ayame's emerald orbs. Man, was she bipolar.

"I heard that _my_ Inuyasha wasn't at school today…you don't think it's possible for him to be expelled already do you? But we haven't even…" Ayame sobbed.

As Kohaku tried his best to console her overdramatic friend, Sango continued to day dream about the shikon no tama. Was it possible for a jewel to cause so much turmoil and destruction? And if so, what if the rumors of three shards still existing in the world were true? What would happen if it did fall in the wrong hands? Sango kept picturing the beautiful rose jewel on her worksheet. It was mesmerizing. It never ceased to amaze her how something so beautiful could end up being so deadly. The more she thought about it, the more the legend puzzled her. There were just too many scenarios in which the jewel could affect humanity. Thank goodness it was just a myth right?

"Earth to Sango!" two voices cried in unison.

As Sango was temporarily pulled out of her thoughts, she made an effort to listen to her friends.

"Where's Kagome?"

--

_Hours earlier…_

_A long whistle was heard as the elevator doors slowly opened to the twenty first floor. _

"_Nice catch!" he heard the man that was so drunk that it should be illegal call from still inside the elevator as he stepped out. _

_Why he still lived in this dump he had no idea…oh, wait…child services. He adjusted the unconscious girl that lay limp on his back as he struggled to find his keys in his back pocket. As he continued to walk towards his apartment door, he could feel hot air caress the side of his neck for the one hundredth time. Inuyasha was tempted to toss the girl out a window as her breath caused a million goose bumps to ride up his spine. Funny, he never remembered ever being ticklish. As he finally reached the apartment door with 2106 written across the top, he continued to scavenge his keys out of his pocket. When his fingers finally came in contact with something solid, he quickly pulled it out hoping his prize was a set of keys. He was a bit taken back to see the rose coloured jewel stare back at him. Even under the dim lit hallway, the jewel managed to sparkle upon his palm. Why did he still have this? He only took it hoping he could pawn it for some cash and to get a little revenge on the girl who had sacked him like no tomorrow. He started to wonder if it even belonged to her. So much had happened since that day in August that he wondered if it was all real. He never expected to see the blue eyed freak again and yet her soft, fragile body lay hard against his back…whoa, why did he let his mind wander like that?!_

_Inuyasha shook his head side to side as he tried to clear his thoughts. He shoved the necklace back in his pocket as he resumed the search for his keys. If it weren't for the stupid hospital, he wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. It took him a good couple of hours to find the hospital from the train tracks. At that time, the pain in his knee throbbed with no mercy as the strain of walking with a person on his back, even if the person seemed to only weight ninety pounds, took its toll. By the time he reached the hospital's main entrance, he had no strength left to carry Kagome inside. So he left her on the pavement as he practically crawled through the entrance for assistance. When he made his way to the Triage nurse, she immediately recognized his face and screamed for him to get out. Apparently he had injured fifteen patients and one nurse from his last visit and no longer had the privilege to obtain medical assistance from the facility for a month. Before he could even mention Kagome's name, he was tossed back outside by five angry nurses. He was sure that the whole situation was illegal and made a mental note to call his lawyer. He was seventeen for crying out loud and he already had his own personal lawyer, oi. To make matters worst, a small runt with reddish-auburn hair thought it was absolutely hilarious to kick a total stranger in the knee, out of all places, and ran inside the safety of the hospital. It would indeed be a humorous childish act if the total stranger wasn't him._

_The sound of the steel key in contact with moving gears was music to his ears as he entered his shabby apartment. He plopped the sleeping beauty on the worn out leather sofa and automatically stretched his arms to work the kinks out of his sore back. After downing a couple glasses of water in the small kitchen, he was startled by the sound of heavy breathing. He wondered if his beatnik of an uncle had finally returned home as he took a few steps to enter the living room again. Inuyasha was a little confused when he discovered that the breathing, which sounded more like hyperventilating now, was coming from Kagome's comatose body. Frozen by her unusual state, Inuyasha contemplated on what to do. He slowly neared the sofa unsure if it was wise to disturb her state of unconsciousness. Don't you find it common that one always transforms into a klutz when faced with a dire situation? As he made it to the foot of the sofa, Inuyasha managed to successfully prove this theory and trip over the tiny coffee table. When he finally recovered, he lifted his head from the wood flooring only to come face to face with the hyperventilating Kagome. He flinched slightly at the closeness as he rubbed his very sore head. _

_From this angle, or rather, from this close proximity, he could really feel the heaviness of her breathing. It seemed like she was desperately fighting to keep her lungs working in order for her to keep breathing…to keep living. A thin sheet of sweat had glazed her paler than white skin. Her dark hair stuck to her face framing the uncomfortable pout she wore on her sleeping face. Although Inuyasha wasn't an expert at any standard, he could tell by just the look on her face that she had a fever. Inuyasha felt some mental vomit rise at the back of his throat. She just looked so…so pathetic to him. She looked so vulnerable with the face she made in her deep sleep. It made him feel weak just looking at her. He would never understand her kind of lifestyle; her weak lifestyle. Underneath her sarcastic and innocent attitude was this; her true form. He convinced himself that he was never fooled by her tough guy act for an instant. He snickered a bit as her body seemed to shudder by his thoughts alone. His smirk eventually turned into a little scowl as he thought hard for a moment. As much as this amused him it was his problem. What would he do with her? The weak always needed saving, keh, what a pain! _

_As if solving the problem on its own, her breathing slowly returned to normal. The sudden silence broke Inuyasha out of his thoughts. He placed a hand on her forehead out of curiosity and found that her temperature wasn't nearly as high as it might have looked a few minutes ago. He also noticed a tiny bit of colour return to her cheeks bringing her complexion back to its usual pastiness. Had the damsel in distress just saved herself? Inuyasha's golden orbs glowed intensely for a minute. It pissed him off how smug she seemed even when unconscious. At the same time he was flabbergasted. She always seemed to surprise him at every turn. One minute it looked as if she could have stopped breathing at any moment and the next she looked as peaceful as a sleeping child. But she was young and anyone could quickly recover from a little fever. Imagine if he knew that surviving a little fever while infected with cancer was 50/50._

_As his slight frustration melted away, he found himself lost in the billows of her hair. He never noticed how long it was. He followed the ebony strands to just above her tiny waist. It looked thick from the way it curled a bit on the bottom. He found himself pushing her hair out of her sticky face as an excuse to feed his curiosity. He found it was silky soft. Damn, she did it again. As her hair fell behind her back, Inuyasha noticed the faded scarlet colour on her neck. As her body inhaled and exhaled, he found himself unable to turn away from her body. He unconsciously licked his lips while staring at his mark that brought back recent memories. His heart tightened. He knew he was losing himself and tried to concentrate on something else. Bad idea. He found himself staring at her thick eyelashes, the soft shape of her nose, and the little colour on her cheeks. But the worst had to be the shape of her lips. She was driving him insane. It didn't make any sense to him. She still looked like Casper the ghost to him, right…right?! Then why did she make him feel guilty if he abandoned her after their scrap with Kouga or deathly afraid when the train was hurtling towards her. Any human would feel like that right? No, it was more than that. As much as he tried to convince himself otherwise he felt some weird attachment to the girl. Now that he thought about it she was right. He would have saved her or at least died trying. It was his mother in him. They always said that he was just like his mother to a tee and this just proved it. As he stared at her lips again she suddenly seemed oddly familiar. Her hair, her lips, her crooked smile, she looked just like…_

_It was then he remembered his mission with a frown. This bitch was the enemy and he wouldn't let her mind tricks phase him…his heart couldn't afford too. He finally got up from the floor and made his away to his bedroom in deep disgust at himself. Before he managed to slam his door shut he heard a small whimper leave Kagome's lips as she slept._

"_Inuyasha…" she whispered in her sleep as she shifted her body more comfortably in the rugged sofa._

_Inuyasha shook his bangs to cover his cold amber orbs as a grimace of pain slowly crept on to his face. _

_He then walked into his bedroom and called it a night. _

…

They say when you're about to die you are witnessed to a bright light shining towards you, as if it beckons you to be swallowed in its warmth and tranquility, allowing you to pass through an entrance to a greater world unknown to man.

For Kagome, it just meant she had lived to see another day.

As the bright light of the room flooded passed her closed eyelids, Kagome stirred in her half unconscious state. She lifted a hand to her face in attempt to escape back into the peaceful darkness. Finding that her efforts were futile, she slowly inched up to a sitting position on the comfy surface. She readied herself by counting to three in her head before opening her eyes that were quickly exposed to the pouring light that desperately wanted in. After the haziness in her vision disappeared she observed the unfamiliar room. The room had a small television set off to the corner which sat opposite of the worn out leather sofa she sat on. A few inches away was a small oak coffee table with a few magazines scattered on top. At the far end of the room were a large glass window and a small hallway which seemed to lead to other rooms.

Very curious at this point, Kagome got off from the sofa to do some exploring. As she neared the glass window she noticed a small kitchen to the right. She peered through the huge window in hopes of finding her bearings but to no avail. As the pitter patter of rain hit the glass, she took in her reflection in the glass window. She was still in her school uniform, which had some grass stains, and found she was missing a shoe. Her stringy hair was sticking out all over the place and her blue eyes had lost some of its luster. But the most shocking feature of her appearance was her deathly pale skin.

As if on cue, a tremendous spasm of pain shot up from her stomach. If her complexion wasn't an indication of how sick she was, the pain definitely was. She was going to hurl. She darted through the small hallway, charging into the first room on the right. Lady luck happened to be on her side as she entered the bathroom. She quickly fell onto her knees in front of the toilet knowing that the sink wouldn't be able to keep up with the fluid about to erupt within her. She shot the toilet seat up and stared directly into the bowl. It only took mere seconds for the warm chunky fluid to flow out of her mouth. Just as her gut couldn't take it anymore her vomit fit came to a stop. She struggled to reach the handle from where she sat but managed to flush the toilet of all its goodies.

"Argggghhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"

Whoa, was she so sick that she was hearing things? She had to admit that the apartment was pretty untidy but as sick as she was she could still tell it was just an apartment and not a zoo so the sudden growl couldn't have come from some exotic animal…

"Argggghhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"

…then again maybe that was just the sickness talking.

"You old fart! How many times do I have to tell you not to flush the toilet when I'm in…"

Kagome whipped her head around only to come face to face with a wet, stunned, and very naked Inuyasha.

As they shared their two hundredth awkward silence since they had met, Kagome turned a shade of red Inuyasha never thought was possible.

As he stood in the shower with his sliver hair dripping, Inuyasha turned slightly to the right to turn off the shower.

"Kagome?" he asked apathetically "Get out."

And with that Kagome ran out of the tiny bathroom as fast as her legs could go.

…

Kagome was back on the leather sofa staring aimlessly at the small television as Inuyasha began to channel surf. Even after their little 'incident', Inuyasha allowed her to take a shower and borrow one of his smaller sweatshirts even though he hadn't said a single word to her since in the bathroom. It was one of those things where he communicated with her through his eyes. As hard as Inuyasha was to read sometimes it was easy to understand him when he made the effort to communicate back.

Inuyasha sighed as the channel he stopped on began to air a rerun of Oprah. He then pressed the power button on the remote to turn the useless piece of shit off. There wasn't anything decent to watch and even if there was it was just too damn awkward with _her_ sitting only inches away. Did he mention that she just saw him naked?

"Errr…Inuyasha I'm…"

"Save it."

Kagome sighed as her attempt to apologize was denied. She fiddled with the sleeves of the sweatshirt that was too big on her. The shirt smelled like him interlaced with Tide liquid detergent. She really was sorry. Her urge to vomit was just too strong for her to notice anything around her. Now that she thought of it, she didn't realize how steamy the bathroom had been when she first entered nor did she even hear the shower that was on…well until it was too late of course.

"Sorry" she whispered softly.

Inuyasha only grunted and headed towards the kitchen. He couldn't stand how her apology aroused him. For a ghostly chick like herself it was mindboggling to him how she could sit on his sofa with her big blue eyes, slightly damp hair, and oversized sweatshirt and manage to make it look so seductive. Or maybe he was just into freaks now.

He tried to take his mind off the issue and focused on his hunger. He opened the fridge and grabbed some condiments, bread, and what sort of still looked like baloney. He kicked the door closed with his foot and settled his ingredients on the counter.

"Isn't it a little early for a sandwich?"

Inuyasha flinched a bit as Kagome popped up from the opposite side of the counter.

"Keh, sorry princess but I hate to inform you that it's three in the afternoon. You sure know how to snore!" he retorted back.

"Wait, three in the afternoon?! You mean school's over?!" Kagome asked in a panic. Great, it was only day two and she was already skipping school.

Inuyasha only rolled his eyes as he spread some mayonnaise on his slice of bread.

"And why do you keep calling me that?! Princess this, princess that, that's all I ever hear from you." She added in an irritated voice.

Inuyasha finally looked up at her as if confirming something in his thoughts as he cleaned his knife in his mouth, licking off the mayonnaise with a smirk.

Kagome turned her head away with folded arms hoping that her annoyed body language would distract him from her burning cheeks.

"Girls work hard to slutify themselves so they can compete with other girls to see which guy will fuck them first. Who ever comes out on top is the bitchiest one of them all and is looked upon by the others as a princess. Besides, every girl wants to become a princess right? Even though it's hard for me to admit, you are a girl and therefore rightfully fall into that category. Does that clear things up?" Inuyasha said as he dipped his knife in some mustard.

Kagome couldn't believe what she was hearing. Is this how men really classified women? Who knew they had a theory behind it. But one thing Kagome was good at was reading through the words people said. It's amazing how observant one can become when they don't speak for a long period of time. Although she was chatty as ever now she never lost the power to read in between the lines. His statement would get any girl angry and assuming she was reading the double meaning of his words correctly, she was going to hit him where it hurt.

"Really? Because it sounded more like a nickname to me."

"What did you say?" Inuyasha asked in a bit of shock as he put down his knife.

Kagome knew she had hit the bull's-eye with that one because every woman knows that when it comes to men and their food it takes something big to separate the two.

"You know, like a nickname you'd call an ex-girlfriend or something." She continued.

Inuyasha could only blink at her in response too stunned to do anything else. After a few seconds he chuckled a bit darkly shrugging to himself. How she knew about Kikyo was beyond him but he knew exactly where she was going with this and wasn't going to give in so easily.

"I have to admit that you do kinda resemble her so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you'd have her big ass mouth too. I always called Kikyo 'princess' and lo and behold she was the biggest BITCH of them all." He spat through grinded teeth, emphasizing on the word bitch as it was humanly possible.

Kagome instantly regretted she brought it up. She was a little too good at deciphering people's true meanings. But maybe she could help? At that moment her urge to know more about Inuyasha kicked in.

"Kikyo huh. Pretty name just like the flower. What was she like?"

"_Kikyo huh. Pretty name just like the flower. What was she like?"_ How was it that Kagome always knew what to say to piss him off entirely?

"What was she like? Ha! At one point I would say she was a hot slut and a nice fuck but like I said a bitch is a better description. Keh, I guess you two are more similar than I thought."

They both stared off into each other's eyes from across the counter as waves of blue collided with amber.

Suddenly, something soft grazed Inuyasha's shoulder

"Why in cripes sakes are you punching me?" he asked irritated as Kagome managed to hop over the counter and land beside him.

"Because you're wrong about me, silly." She replied in a sadden voice.

"Can you try to make sense please!!" Inuyasha absentmindedly said aloud out of annoyance.

"I'm sorry!! So, so, so sorry! I'm sorry she hurt you Inuyasha, I'm sorry you feel betrayed and I'm sorry she broke your heart but please, please don't compare me to her. I'm Kagome, you hear me?! KA-GO-ME!! I have type AB blood, I'm too sarcastic for my own good, I've never owned a single Disney princess movie in my life, I'm afraid of falling asleep at night, and I-I…just want to be your friend okay?! I want to get to know you Inuyasha so stop pushing me away!" Kagome pleaded in one breath.

Inuyasha could only shake his head in disbelief.

"Why aren't you scared of me?" he asked in a serious tone.

This threw her off a bit.

"What? Because I have nothing to be scared of dummy." Kagome replied in a lighter tone, punching Inuyasha playfully on the shoulder once more.

Kagome's glossy eyes widen in shock as a tight fist wrapped around her wrist which was still inches away from his shoulder.

"Keh, Your stupidity amazes me! You think you can just touch me like I'm your fuckin' pet? Open your Goddamn bloody eyes for a second. You are alone in a room with me and you haven't shone as much as a quiver of fear! I can take advantage of you whenever I please and here you are punching me like we're fucking buddies!! I'll give you one thing though; you sure are a fucking riot!" Inuyasha spat in her face, tightening the grip on her wrist. His eyes danced with excitement as she winced a bit in pain.

"Weak and stupid, huh! Shouldn't you be avoiding situations like this with a combo like that?" he continued.

Kagome only stared back at his laughing face with her blazing blue eyes that held no fear. It was then that Inuyasha's laughing fit was interrupted by her musical voice.

"Weak, stupid, you're probably right but why should I fear something I have faith in. You wouldn't take advantage of me because you'd have already done so. That's just not the Inuyasha I know." She said softly with a tiny grin.

She'd pushed the envelope too far this time. It made him so sick for her to speak so highly of him; like she knew him, please!

In one swift movement, Inuyasha flung Kagome out of the tiny kitchen causing her to tumble backwards landing right in front of the giant window flat on her back. Before Kagome could yelp in pain from her throbbing head, Inuyasha pounced on top of her slender body pinning her arms above her head. She would have blushed at the straddling position he had her in if she wasn't still stunned at what had just happened.

Inuyasha could only smirk as he watched her blue eyes bug out. They were so blue. Maybe she was half American or something. Kagome's senses were overwhelmed at how the scent on his sweatshirt intensified with his body so close to hers. He smelled better than she could have imagined. They remained still for what seemed like years as Inuyasha's devious eyes searched for proper punishment of her taking him so likely. It then hit him like a punch to the face. She was a little virgin right? A little nun who treated her body like a temple and was probably waiting for prince charming to rescue her from her sexual desires. It was so obvious it was criminal that he didn't realize it sooner. Screw the five friggen steps! If he was going to break her heart he would have to start chipping away at it now. How would it make her feel if the person she had faith were to steal away her first kiss!?

'Only one way to find out!' his thoughts eagerly answered.

He leaned in closer to her face, tightening his grip on her wrists for support. Kagome's eyes hazed over a bit but they still remained glossier than ever. Inuyasha was ready to swoop down for the kill until he felt her heart thumping like the wings of a humming bird. Was she scared, nervous? Whatever she felt she hid it well on her face but her heart gave her away. He took his attention off her lips and looked at her face. Wrong move. Her slightly wet hair sprawled around her face like a frame inclosing a picture; a pretty picture. Her skin was still translucent but all it did was emphasis her ocean blue orbs. Who was she again? Kikyo, Kagome, Casper? He couldn't remember. It scared him how fast this stranger's heart was beating. He couldn't steal something that made the victim's heart want to explode or did he?

"You're wrong about me. I am what you see. I am what people say. Why be friends with someone who hates your guts? You were right, Princess just doesn't suit you. You're more of a Supergirl. Just some idiot who believes there is good in people like me and has to be taught a lesson before realizing that the good guys only win in the comic books." He whispered inches away from her lips.

He then loosened his grip on her wrist as he began to shift his weight off of her. Why he couldn't finish her off today and crush her heart with a meaningless kiss bothered him a bit but he was certain he couldn't do it. He still believed she wasn't right about him but maybe he was wrong about himself.

Before he could even lift his head up, warm arms wrapped around his neck. He felt her heartbeat thunder even faster and before he knew it his lips were bruised against soft flesh. He stared in horror as Kagome pushed her lips harder against his own with her eyes glued shut and arms wrapped tightly around his neck. He quickly placed his hands on either side of her head making sure he wouldn't fall on her. Her lips were so soft it just felt good to feel them placed on top of his. He was frozen with so many emotions that he couldn't manage to close his eyes but when he felt something moist lather his lips, he almost had a heart attack of his own. Her tongue felt so slick as it trailed his bottom lip. It was when she slightly parted her lips, inviting him in, that he gave in to temptation.

The heat of her mouth had him instantly intoxicated. She didn't taste sweet like he had assumed but it still gave him a rush. The movements of her tongue were jagged against his own as she kissed him with a rough intensity. It was like kissing lightening. Inuyasha struggled to keep focus as Kagome sucked on his bottom lip. They had been at it for only thirty seconds and she already knew what made his knees buckle. He was absorbed by her heat. The sound of her tongue busy at work was music to his ears. But what made his heart rip through his chest was her passion. It didn't feel like she kissed him for her own personal need. It felt more like she was trying to tell him something. Telling him how much she cared.

It was with that sudden realization that he reluctantly pulled back. He looked back at her with frighten eyes. The sound of falling rain was soon interlaced with broken pants. Kagome slowly opened her eyes revealing her liquid blue eyes. They starred at each other for what seemed like an eternity as they both tried to catch their breath. Inuyasha's eyes continued to search for an answer in her blue pools in attempt to ease his confusion.

"Don't get the wrong idea. That was just in case…" Her musical voice answered as if reading his mind.

She then slid out underneath him, quickly gathered her things and jogged out the front door.

Still stunned and even more confused by her answer, Inuyasha remained on the living room floor on his knees as rain continued to lightly tap against the window. What just happened? He shook his head a bit to clear his mind. Had he scared her into doing it? Why did she kiss him back? Better question, why did he kiss her back? What scared him the most was the sound of his own heart pounding against his chest. Know matter how even he tried to make his breath, it wouldn't slow down. God, what was happening to him? All he could think about was her hot mouth slathered against his own and how unfair it was that she was the one who saw him naked and not the other way around.

His thoughts were than interrupted by a loud ringing. It took him a few seconds to realize that the phone was ringing and managed to pick it up on the last ring.

"Yeah?" He answered wondering if that was the proper greeting when answering the phone.

"And a hello to you too, Inuyasha. It's been a while." A dark voice chuckled through the receiver.

All happiness, confusion, and pleasure vanished from his entire being in an instant as disgust and anger filled him to the rim.

"Naraku."

_Just in case I don't live to see you again._

--

**A/N: Once again, I apologize for the wait. Let's just say I had way too much fun this summer. If writer's block and summer school wasn't enough, I just kept getting more and more sidetracked that summer was whisked away without me writing a single chapter TT. I'm terribly sorry but I suck at deadlines. This fic is still in progress and as much as I'd like to say that the updating will get better it will most likely get worst :( For those of you who will stick with me, whoa, your crazy but I love and thank you. **

**Now, allow me to clarify a few things about the chapter. The chapter is called Bejeweled (yes, like the game) because it introduces the Shikon no Tama. I will post the link on my profile in which I got the extensive info on the jewel's story. Background story of Inuyasha and Naraku's relationship will be exposed in future chapters to come and no, Miroku did not die. :)**

**I apologize for any spelling/grammar mistakes as I am still searching for a beta reader and I didn't revise it too much because I wanted to get it out right away.**

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter and don't forget to review! Invite your friends because the more the merrier! (And possibly the faster the chapters will come out with the extra support :)**

**So its back to school which sucks but I have a spare this semester which will hopefully give me more time to write.**

**Till chapter eight, Later Dayz!**


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